Last week my son celebrated his second anniversary of being clean and sober. He was a hardcore heroin/crack user for over 10 years. There is still a stigma associated with drug addicts. People who don’t have an addict in the family think addicts are scumbags. One of the big problems is that most people have no idea that drug addiction is rampant through every part of our society. People have no idea that there is an actual drug epidemic. People don’t realize that new drugs are being designed very day to sell to our children. Spice, bath salts and K2 are being sold to kids who have no clue of the danger these drugs present. Spice also known as Genie, K3, Bliss, Nice, Black Mamba, Incense, and even fake weed, are being sold in gas stations, convenience stores, tobacco shops, head shops and of course online. Spice is a mixture of plant leaves and stems that have been laced with synthetic chemicals. Smoke it, you get high. Some kids smoke it and die.
The following was on the news today.
Coroner: Death possibly related to synthetic drug
Updated: Saturday, 10 Aug 2013, 6:44 PM CDT
Published : Saturday, 10 Aug 2013, 6:44 PM CDT
CLARKE COUNTY, Ala. (WALA) – According to the Clarke County coroner, a seventh death in the county could be linked to “puff puff,” a type of synthetic marijuana.
“It’s very shocking that as much information as we have on this stuff and the dangers of it that people continue to use it,” said coroner Mitch Finney.
Since noticing the drug spread throughout the county, Finney has been asking medical professionals to alert his office to people showing symptoms of synthetics, chest pain, psychosis, even full on cardiac arrest, so he can send tests back to Montgomery for analysis.
The seventh case happened just this week, a man found exhibiting those symptoms.
If you have children and don’t know about this you better get online and start doing your research. The biggest problem with these drugs is that kids assume they are OK because they are legal. Many states are now making them illegal but kids will still buy them.
Also many people have a hard time believing drug addiction is a disease. If you don’t believe it you better start because this epidemic is only going to get worse because parents are wearing blinders and don’t know what the hell they are talking about.
When I was in high school there was not one kid who I went to school with who would have thought to shoot up heroin. That is a whole different story now. Kids start out by popping a few Percocets to get high. They think they will never become an addict. After doing this a few times they need more pills to get high and then they turn to Oxycontin a much stronger version of Percs. The price of these drugs, which are of the opiate family, is high. So what do kids do? They turn to heroin which is also an opiate but is much cheaper. This is a fact: Kids can become addicted after using heroin just once or any opiate for that matter.
I am a member of “The Addicts Mom”. We have about 3800 members now. Moms join this group so they can rant about their addicted child because no one else wants to hear it. I have met hundreds of Moms who have lost their kids to this disease. I have met hundreds of Moms who have more than one kid who uses. I have met thousands of Moms who are at their wit’s end.
There are no answers to this problem yet Heroin use is out of control. A friend of mine has a daughter who started using opiates to lose weight.
This is a before and after pic of my son. Yeah, he lost weight alright.
I feel like I am starting to ramble so I will get off my bandwagon for now. I will be back. I have a lot more to say.
Whatever I think 
Aug 10, 2013 @ 22:00:48
Great post Joan. Congrats on your son’s anniversary of being sober. I know how huge that is! They were selling synthetic drugs here for years. City by city they are making them illegal, but they will still find our kids. The best thing we can do as parents is educate our kids. I kid you not I remember going to recess in the 3rd grade and I had a kid approach me to take a hit off a Mickey Mouse stamp. I didn’t because my mom had already told me that crap was blotter acid. That was back in 1979. I have always talked to my kids & their friends about the dangers of drugs. Being a recovering alcoholic I also make sure my kids know that it is a disease and it is a gentetical disease.
Aug 11, 2013 @ 00:13:21
I think they get caught up in something much bigger than they ever thought and it swallows them whole and it’s only by luck if they are able to escape. Some get the chance, and the rest end up wandering on the edge which is just as bad as the final outcome. I’m so glad for you, your family, for your son (and his future) that the monster spit him out, so to speak. I will pray for his continued sobriety – and for friends and family i mnow going through somethin similar. It is so nice to see the “after” picture of your son. Really relieved.
I am just now hearing about the bath salts. The stuff they are playing with to get high is so unbelievably scary. People definitely need to be aware and they need to talk with their kids about the reality of trying these things. This is a good way to spread the word!
Feb 23, 2014 @ 11:14:59
Hi Joan! I don’t know if you remember me, but I used to blog at In Repair. I changed the name of my blog a while back, and I am still posting occasionally. I was going back through some of my comments and saw your name. Hope you are doing well! =)