As a child of the 60s I watched a lot of people dabble with drug use. Most of them got through it and now live productive lives. The pattern then was alcohol and marijuana to start with. Most people had a power fear of heroin and the drugs that lead to it. Today the trends have changed. 59% of people between the age of 12 and 25 who start on illicit drugs are starting with pain pills. Pain pills are the entry level drug of today, not marijuana. The sad thing about the statistic is that 74% of those people get the drugs from their family or friends. The alarming fact in these stats is more than half of the first time illicit drug users are starting with opiods. The road of opiod addiction go from pain pills, to Oxycontin, to heroin to death. Heroin today costs 15% - 20% of what it cost in the 1970s
Heroin is the Mexican mafia's drug of choice. It is easy to grow, transport and market. Today it is the most accessible drug on our streets. The Mexican mafia now controls the drug markets of North America. We are watching them over throw the Mexican government. Their budget is an estimated 6 times the national budget of the Mexican government. They murdered 6000 people last year. This year there has been war on the streets of Mexican cities between the drug cartels and the federals. The cartels have slaughtered many mayors and local police authorities who refuse to buckle to them.
DEA reports during budget hearings last year stated that illicit drug use in the US is down 20% and that heroin use is static. Yet the CIA said production of heroin for US consumption was up 62% the same year. The use of Oxycontin is 933% greater than the estimated use numbers projected for this period by the manufacturer, Purdue.
We are watching an epidemic sweep our country, the white plague. It is killing young people by the 1000s. People on the streets see it. But a lot of officials don't. Because the use patterns have changed. 2.4 times as many people died from drug overdose last year than from automobiles. The number is growing exponentially. Unless the trend is reversed we will see 5 and then 10 times the annual fatalities from drugs as automobiles.
You would never knowingly give a loved one a fatal illness. Do not share or sell your left over pain pills. It could be like giving that person cancer. Some people are more susceptible to opiods than you may be. If you don't want to throw away your left over pain pills, then lock them up. You can buy a locking strong box for under $20. What are your children's lives worth. We can reverse this trend.
