In the last few months, the heroin epidemic has become a more urgent and pressing matter than ever before. There are constantly articles put out about how to deal with an addict, how it should be treated as a disease, how to minimize the damage -- but there is no set solution in sight.

With the death toll rising at a rapid rate, it seems like there is no hope. I am watching people I knew growing up, my best friend’s boyfriend, family’s daughters and sons all drop like flies to this substance I know nothing about. So I decided to read up on the drug, and after reading endless articles on the negative effects of heroin, I decided to write my own article.

But I don't want to sit here and tell anyone how bad this epidemic is, because I think everyone is well aware. You watch the news, you read the obituaries, you scroll past the posts of family members and loved ones posting photos of the child, friend and sibling they lost to this drug. What I want to do is try to understand why. I want to try and understand the allure of sticking a needle in your veins, the fun in destroying yourself from the inside out.

When faced with a problem, I was always told to go to the root because there you will find the cause. If you stop the cause, you can stop the problem. The problem is heroin and the root is these feelings that push people to the point where they see heroin as their only escape.

And that’s exactly what heroin is; it is an escape, a euphoric feeling, a feeling of freedom. It makes the pain stop, makes the world stand still. For someone struggling, it is a way to make the world make sense, even if just for a little bit.

In 2006, there were one hundred-sixty-four thousand heroin over doses. That’s four hundred and forty-nine OD's a day. And that was ten years ago. Seeing how the usage of heroin has doubled, if not tripled, since then, those numbers are increasing in size and are shocking and devastating to me. Seeing these numbers, it goes to show how there are a lot of people struggling and fighting battles, and when it all becomes too much, the "white lady" comes to their rescue.

The irony to me comes in the name. A heroine is a female character who saves the day. Drop the -e, heroin is also a drug that comes to save the day for all too many people. To an addict, the white lady is the one to save the day, the white lady is their heroine, their escape to a deadly type of safety. Heroin allows a moment of happiness, but one drop too many, and that moment turns to a spiral headed for a black hole and there is no coming back. It is that easy to over dose. And you don't know it's happening until it is too late.

So people have tried to stop the movement of heroin, and try, try as hard as we might, heroin will always be used by someone, somewhere. We cannot stop the movement of it. So they said to build better rehab facilities. Treat the usage of heroin like a disease. But, this still fails to stop the problem. The majority of people who check into rehab will come back for another round. It becomes a cycle, one that very few people can ever fully get out of, and even when they do, the temptation still remains, the possibility of an over dose, the possibility of death.

But then along came Narcan. To society, it is a way to lower the death toll. To a user, it's a safety net. Their concern of an overdose is minimal to begin with, and now with this safety net so readily available, their concern for an OD is as close to non-existent as it can get.

But Narcan costs around fifty dollars a dose, and it often takes two doses to save a person's life due to fear that one will not be enough and the end result is fatality. So is this the permanent fix? To save the lives of the people who lay there, motionless and empty. Their lives will never be the same, and in order to prevent that devastating change, we need to focus on those we love before they begin using.

We need to take responsibility for those we love. We can take an interest in their feelings, do our best to understand and avoid passing judgement. We can show them how we handle our stress, take them with you when you go to your escape, teach them and be there for them. We can give them an escape that doesn’t require a needle.

Now I know this doesn’t tackle the issue of peer pressure, or hanging out with the wrong crowd, but it does address a huge cause for the usage of heroin. And with enough people willing to stand beside those they love, it gives the addict an out and the motivation to take back control of their lives. With the help of those who have loved them throughout it all, you would be amazed how it can change a person, the strength it can give an individual.

So my tip to the world, from someone who has never used heroin, but from someone who has watched it destroy those around her, is to learn to be the heroine of your life. Learn to be the heroine that doesn’t kill, the kind that doesn’t destroy. Be the kind that may not save the day, but may save a life.