Dear Heroin,
I can't seem to understand what we've done to deserve any of this. Why do you continue to take our loved ones? Our friends and family members are dropping like flies out here because of you and yet you have no remorse.
You stop for nobody.
Anybody willing to look your way becomes subject to your destructive ways. You attack the strong, the weak, the free-spirited, the hopeless, the wealthy and the poor. The truth is, you have no preference and that's what makes you so deadly.
We've been trained to see addiction as homeless, jobless, and dirty. Nobody wants to talk about how white collar America has the same issue, though. We don't speak about how frequent the wealthy kids die at your expense. It's almost as if it were taboo to speak about you at all in upper to middle class America. Maybe that's why so many are falling subject in these areas. . . if nobody talks about it how are we supposed to inform our children to stay away? Oh, that's right. We're letting school systems give that talk now.
I grew up during a time when talking about you was a mandatory, state-funded program. Nowadays, kids either experience it for themselves or listen to a brief discussion about "say no to drugs" followed by an episode of Intervention. Why is it even the school system don't understand how important this is? Better yet, why is it that parents are leaving it up to them at all?
I think the answer is really clear actually. We live in this fantasy that 'it could never happen to us.' You make headlines every day it seems. Things like "Mother of Four Overdoses in Public Bathroom" and "Business CEO dies from Unseen Heroin Overdose" but that's the only time we're forced to face the truth; you do not discriminate. You don't see us as richer or poorer. You don't see us as black or white. To you, we are all potential targets in which to spread your disease throughout the nation. The truth is, it can happen to us. Any single one of us. Nobody is off limits.
We cannot afford not to talk about you. We cannot afford to lose another life because they were uneducated. You are killing thousands every year. Is that not enough to realize we're obviously doing something wrong? We absolutely have to talk about this epidemic, not just in our community but across the globe, I'm tired of saying "Rest in Peace." I'm tired of losing my friends way too early. I'm ready to defeat you once and for all.
It's time we fight back. Speak out. Stop silencing the lives lost from this deadly drug. It's time we talk about the unspeakable. People won't understand until it effects them but by then it will be too late. At least four people are affected by every drug addict. That's four people that could be working towards an end to this. That's four people who could be speaking out locally about a worthwhile cause. We need to stop letting this discussion be pushed to the back burner.
If you or anyone you know has been affected by heroin or any other substance abuse please visit iHateHeroin.org
You are not alone. We will defeat this drug.
