by James A. Bacon
Catelyn Weems was a typical kid from a middle-class family, healthy, outgoing, having everything to live for, when a soccer injury sent her life spiraling into hell. A series of operations to fix teeth damaged in the accident led to overuse of prescription pain killers. Catelyn tried to shake her addiction, repeatedly getting clean then relapsing, but the drugs proved stronger than she did. Prescription opioids led to heroin, which accelerated the downward spiral. Her struggle ended when she died of an overdose.
Heroin, once associated with bohemians and inner-city poor, has gone mainstream. Addiction has become an epidemic here in Virginia as a new gateway — prescription painkillers — has introduced heroin to segments of the population that traditionally eschewed hard drugs.
Heroin and prescription drug overdoses killed 700 Virginians last year, more than the number who died in automobile accidents, said Attorney General Mark Herring yesterday during the roll-out of a documentary, “Heroin: The Hardest Hit.”
Overdose deaths have rocketed higher in recent years, shooting up 50% in the Richmond region between 2011 and 2013, 94% in Hampton Roads, and 164% in Northern Virginia. Addiction has struck families that never imagined they would be afflicted by the scourge, said Herring.
If there’s any silver lining, it’s that heroin has no defenders, and there seems to be bipartisan resolve to address the problem. In the documentary (seen above), Herring mentions several actions that can be taken now. They include:
- Prosecute drug dealers more aggressively.
- Expand availability of Naloxone, a drug that immediately reverses the effect of heroin overdoses.
- Pass a “good Samaritan” bill that shelters people who call to report an overdose from prosecution for drug possession or other possible crimes.
- Create a monitoring program to identify abusers of prescription pain killers.
- Increase parental/family awareness of the signs of drug abuse.
These all sound worthwhile, although it strikes me that they only scratch the surface of the problem. Virginia probably will have to commit greater resources to substance abuse programs to help those willing to be helped. But the state budget is tight; any spending initiative should include a research and accountability component to determine which treatment programs show the highest rate of success.
Meanwhile, it is important not to portray the heroin epidemic as a middle-class white problem, as the profiling of white overdose victims in the documentary appears to make it. Heroin addiction also afflicts minorities, who may encounter the drug in a different cultural and socio-economic context. No segment of society is immune, there are different pathways to heroin addiction, and our approach to the problem should acknowledge that reality.
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