The opioid epidemic casted a deadly spell on Massachusetts and continues to spread throughout the state.

Between 2012-2014, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health recorded that at least one death caused by an opioid overdose occurred in 75 percent of the states' cities and towns.

About one hundred people across the country die from opioid overdoses every day. In Massachusetts alone, about 1,100 people died from overdoses last year. In the first quarter of 2015, state officials reported 414 overdoses in Massachusetts, up from 347 in the first quarter of 2014. These skyrocketing numbers are only getting higher, affecting every age group and every community. Those who fall victim to this deadly disease are not the stigmatized "dregs of humanity". The median age of opioid abusing victims is 41 - including young adults, students, professionals, and homemakers.

An epidemic is a widespread occurrence of an infectious disease in a community at a particular time. The opioid epidemic is taking more lives than it ever has and it's time to take a stand. In 2012, U.S. pharmacies filled 207 million prescriptions for opioids - over three times as many as in 1991. President Obama noted four out of every five heroin users started by abusing prescription opioids.

As someone who comes from a town with 20.6 per 100,000 people, it's not uncommon to know at least one person who's fallen casualty to this increasingly personal disease.

If you or someone you know is abusing opioids, tell someone. Coming from someone who knows both survivors and casualties of the disease, your loved ones will do anything they can to help you survive and conquer the disease. Never be scared to ask for the help that you need because there's only so much time before the deadly disease takes another life