Heroin has become a BIG problem in not just Ohio, but all around the world as well. According to statistics, 23 Ohioans are killed each week from heroin overdoses. And to just think, so many years ago heroin used to be legal and the public was able to buy the syringes through a catalog. It just baffles me how one drug can get out of hand and spread an epidemic throughout the world.

A study has been conducted at the University of Cincinnati that proves one in five people in Ohio knows someone who is struggling or has struggled with a heroin addiction. Below is a few quotes from two previous addicts and their experience with heroin:

Caitlyn: It was this, like, really, like, animal instinct level, like, obsession with-- with getting high.

Bill Whitaker: You had to do it?

Caitlyn: Even when I didn't want to, like, wou-- really using against my will.

Bill Whitaker: Where'd you get the money?

Robert: Stealing, lying, cheating...using other people, ripping other people off.

Caitlyn: I had no relationship with reality at all. My thinking was limited to how I could get high.

These two people were given second chances when a judge that sentenced them decided to put them through a program, granted they stay clean. And they did stay clean and have been ever since. Robert now owns a landscaping business and Caitlyn is in pre-med, hoping to become a doctor. None of that would be possible if they hadn't fought their addiction and sought out the help they needed.

What is currently being done In Ohio for drug addicts is drug courts, which is what Robert and Caitlyn went through, and a drug called Narcan, also called naloxone. Now, drug courts are effective if the addict is willing to go through the program and stick to it. Narcan/naloxone is given to people that have overdosed in order to save their lives. Narcan/naloxone is effective in saving most people, while others do not survive from it but, what about after they are saved from the overdose? What happens then? Many people, including myself, believe that Ohioans that are saved by the narcan/naloxone should be checked up on not too long after their overdose and should also be given information about getting some help through a program.

If anyone is reading this and knows someone that is an addict or former addict - doesn't have to be in Ohio - then I know how you feel. I know how it feels to look at someone you are close to going through a heroin addiction. I know what it is like to watch someone close to you struggle with addiction for many years and has gone for help dozens of times. Even though there are times when you feel like you do not care anymore because it tires your family out to watch this person struggle with this, you can't give up. The only advice I can give is to keep encouraging them to do well and never let them believe they do not have help waiting for them when they need it because that will go a long way in their recovery.