“Dopesick” is about a drug that was sold as non-addictive, but is so incredibly addictive it is almost impossible to kick. It kills more Americans than the wars we are fighting.
"When I was younger, I was an A student, in the 98th percentile on all the tests. I did ballet. You wouldn’t have thought I would end up the way I did. All my teachers thought I had a lot of promise and would do well in life."
Since coming into office in 2015, the Baker-Polito administration has made responding to the opioid crisis its top public health priority. Spending on addiction services has been increased by 50 percent, from $120 million to $180 million.
“We have a 150-year history of finding ways to improve service to the community, even if it means branching out from our standard scope of work.”
-- Fire Chief Charles Burger
A small bag of heroin is now cheaper than a six-pack of beer, and easier for young people to buy. In 2015, 17 percent of local high school seniors had “tried an opiate.”
In her latest column on heroin addiction, Jennifer Wheeler writes: "With so many people overdosing these days, it is so scary. I know this is a terrifying situation for anyone involved but I would rather be prepared than let someone die – yourself included!"
The Obama Administration is committing millions of dollars to contend with the prevalence of heroin addiction in New England. The Berkshires are not immune. A poem, here, about what an overdose feels like.
I hate heroin. I hate that it disappeared some of my childhood friends, killed others, and left still others straggling down our Main Streets with those shadows in their cheekbones.
