February 6, 2010

Kudos to Michelle Hines of Lake Zurich, Illinois

They say if you look hard enough you can find the positive in any situation.  I don't know if I agree with that statement, especially when it comes to a drug overdose resulting in the death of a young person.  Yet, sometimes its the most tragic events that spur someone into action.  

I just read about this mom who is having a forum to educate other parents in her community about the dangers and prevalence of heroin use among high school students there.  There were THREE heroin ODs in Lake Zurich in the last 14 months (population aprox. 20,000).

Everything I've been learning and experiencing over the last few years has prompted me to take some action too.  Mostly just little things, like this blog, but maybe some bigger things coming up soon.  I'll keep you posted.

Here is an excerpt from the article about Michelle Hines and the work she's doing to spread the word, the full article is here.

A big part of the problem is the prevalent "not my kid" attitude, Hines said.
"There have been so many parents who believe this would not happen to their kids. Their kids are in sports. Their kids are in every activity, and there's no sign of foul play," she said. "The signs aren't the same anymore."
Needle marks on the arms used to be an indication of heroin use. But now, heroin's high purity means it can be smoked or snorted. A single dose can kill, or start a life-destroying addiction.


Peace, Hope and Love,
Barbara

2 comments:

Tom at recoveryhelpdesk.com said...

It's interesting that they seem more concerned about the 1 percent heroin use than the 10 percent prescription drug use (saying the fear is that the prescription drug use could lead to heroin use).

The prescription drug use can cause plenty of harm on its own!

I hope they manage to go beyond "awareness" activities. It seems like so many community efforts focus around awareness and never quite make it to more direct prevention and intervention.

The media, police etc. talk about the problem, but nothing really changes.

Syd said...

There are so many drugs out there now and kids dying from them that is boggles my mind.

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