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Sunday, December 18, 2016

Maryland’s heroin and opioid crisis reaches an all-time high

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Barbara Allen signs her emails with the names of her family members she has lost to addiction.

Jim’s mom, Bill’s sister, Amanda’s aunt.

Her son, Jim, died from a heroin and alcohol overdose in 2003 after battling substance abuse disorder for 22 years.

“What I found really annoyed me and made me angry was there was so little support, and in fact people didn’t have to continue to to die,” said Barbara, who lives in Howard County, Maryland.

In Maryland, heroin-related deaths tripled from 2011 to 2015, rising from 247 to 748, according to the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

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21 comments:

Anonymous said...

this is a sad state of affairs for our nation. there is a lot of blame to go around. flow of illegal drugs from southern border, Doctors giving out narcotic prescriptions like candy, adults and parents allowing themselves to get 'hooked' without regard to themselves and all they influence, fatherless families causing mothers to have to work longer with no or lacking over site at home, poor schools and no discipline at home or at school, lukewarm or cold churches not preaching and teaching the whole council of God, little or no spiritual training at home or in church. no regard for God or humanity. young people have no hope and no purpose and so much more. what do we expect...

Anonymous said...

what did they think would happen when they destroyed the economy and jobs..and left our boarders open for the drugs to come in?!?!?! The entire administration should be prosecuted for this!!

Anonymous said...

Here's a thought- don't use heroin to begi. With and you won't die of an overdose.

Anonymous said...

it is a choice you make. the addicts will self eradicate.why would anyone put rat poison in their veins.

Anonymous said...

Absolutely correct. Well said.

Anonymous said...

Thank you! So tired of hearing this "addiction is a disease" bullsh!t.

Anonymous said...

All-time high. I see what you did there.

Anonymous said...

Big Pharma deals more drugs than Mexican cartels ever dreamed about!

Anonymous said...

Doctors get people hooked on pills and then cut them off leaving them with a bad habit. Heroin is cheap and available.

Anonymous said...

Doctors don't get people hooked on pills. If people actually followed doctor orders and tried over the counter remedies first before demanding something stronger then maybe people wouldn't have addiction problems.

Anonymous said...

2:25. Horrible.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Doctors don't get people hooked on pills. If people actually followed doctor orders and tried over the counter remedies first before demanding something stronger then maybe people wouldn't have addiction problems.

December 17, 2016 at 5:40 PM

You don't think people die from otc products? You haven't been paying attention. This crap feels like deja vu. Didn't you have something like this in the past Joe?

Anonymous said...

The government caused this epidemic. There was was not much demand for heroin until the access to pills/oxycontin/oxycodone was cut-off. The price on the street for pills sky rocketed and heroin due to its lower price point became the drug of choice for pill heads.

Anonymous said...

does anyone think these "pain control specialists" really know what they are doing? they only follow orders from dc and dea rule makers.

Anonymous said...

Agree doctors don't get patients hooked..that's thier own doing..but cutting people off isn't the answer either.When a doctor sees things going wrong it thier duty to be straight with patients and help them to wean off the meds or get them referred for rehab..cutting them off leads to heroin/meth use.

Anonymous said...

Never said People don't die from OTC products, I said people need to try them first before demanding the hard stuff and to listen to the doctors. There's other things to try that are prescription if OTC stuff doesn't work and before the hard core stuff.

Anonymous said...

There's other things to try that are prescription if OTC stuff doesn't work and before the hard core stuff.

December 18, 2016 at 11:49 AM

Yes, doctor.

Anonymous said...

My biggest problem is all these addicted women giving birth to multiple children that continue to use when pregnant.The children sometimes are born with severe disabilities and frankly,our system can't keep up.The kids often end up in foster care.What kind of life is that? The mothers should be court-ordered to get Norplant or get sterilized or no more welfare,housing,etc.I am pro-life but this issue makes me wonder if abortion on demand might stem the tide of babies born addicted to drugs who are basically doomed to a life of squalor and despair.Even if they are not born messed up,they are ten times as likely to be sexually or physically abused when living in a home with hardcore drug users. We spend more money taking care of Mama and all her kids than we do on our senior citizens.The average family with jobs cannot afford to have a lot of kids like we did in the old days because we are taxed to death to support irresponsible adults who have litters of kids,most of the time with issues that will require a lifetime of care.Having a child with Fetal Alcohol syndrome or some other birth injury due to addiction is often a "golden ticket" ( Disability checks) Sorry to sound hard,but I am sick of these people in general.Let them pay for their own Suboxone or whatever they use.

Anonymous said...

11:49 Do your research....OTC acetaminophen (Tylenol) has caused many deaths due to liver failure.It takes surprisingly little doses to do the damage.

Anonymous said...

I'm well aware that acetaminophen can cause death, never did I say OTC drugs were totally safe. In fact, acetaminophen can cause a slow, miserable death that most people aren't aware of. The comment was made because so many people are addicted and so many people demand the hard stuff before trying anything else.

Anonymous said...

Hell, Maryland will make these Legal too as Long as they
get their Friggin Tax on it .....it's Coming !!