With everything terrible going on in the world recently, no one is really talking about the rising heroin problem we are facing. Heroin is one of the most addictive drugs a person can do. According to drugabuse.com “Overdose deaths from heroin have almost quintupled from 2001 to 2013.” That’s an insane amount of avoidable deaths. Addicts are still people. We can’t turn a blind eye to a rising epidemic that strikes families, communities, everyone every day. The first thing we can do is try and help those already affected. Look for signs in people that may be doing it.

A person using heroin may feel groggy, have a slowed heart rate, nausea, or confusion among other things. This can lead to permanent damage to your teeth, malnutrition, anxiety and potentially death. If we continue to sit by and just gossip about how we think someone might be becoming a “junkie” again and shaming these people, we can try and help. It may not be your fault that someone close to you is addicted and you may even feel like it’s pointless to try and get them help, but nothing will change without true effort.

We live on this planet together, we might as well give everyone an equal fighting chance. Heroin addicts are not these deadbeat, worthless people that we treat them as. They are people who are struggling in ways we cannot relate to. We don’t understand what they’re going through but we can try our best to. Parents are losing their children. Sisters losing brothers and people losing their best friends and significant others. Death is sad no matter what.

According to cdc.gov “Opioid overdose deaths, including both opioid pain relievers and heroin, hit record levels in 2014, with an alarming 14 percent increase in just one year.” Imagine if that continues to happen each year, or even get worse? This is not a problem that will go away on its own. And if you are the one with the problem, there are places you can go to get help, people you can talk to. If we can’t help them then we need to push them to help themselves because it won’t ever truly stop until people are willing to stop and stay clean. If we keep pushing it under the rug then we will continue to step on those who need us.

If someone is abusing heroin then chances are there is something wrong with them deeper than just the drug. These are people using heroin to cope. We need to educate the public about hotlines you can call, clinics you visit, groups you can participate in, all anonymously if you want, that will push you to get clean. There are people that care about you if you look hard enough. Heroin is not a game. It is a killer that does not discriminate. The goal should be to stop, or at least decrease as much as possible, the lives being taken. People are watching their loved ones being taken away, lifeless, on gurneys every day. Let’s start making a difference.