That Could Never Happen To Us, Think Again

With an increasing drug epidemic in the United States, more and more families are being impacted on a daily basis. Despite the popular belief, everyone can have their world turned upside down. Addiction and overdose do not care about your gender, age, nationality, religion, or ethnicity. If you think it cannot happen to you, think again.

This morning I spent time with the Drug Task Force in Johnson County learning about the impact drugs are having and what they are doing to stop it. Johnson County has numerous demographics and addiction is not discriminating. Heroine use is on the rise again and the task force is doing everything they can to end it.

 



















Many heroine users begin with opioids or prescription drugs during high school or college. As the addiction progresses, addicts turn to more potent forms of drugs such as heroine or fentanyl. The Force noted they see more heroine abuse in the Iowa City area but once you hit Cedar Rapids, fentanyl use increases. A lot of this has to do with expense. Heroine is much pricer and is less potent. Furthermore, some addicts are advancing to another opioid called carfentanil which is 10,000 times more potent than morphine. Iowa just saw the state's first carfentanil death.

Drugs like carphentanil are extremely hard to find and easily concealed. Why is that? Because it only takes small amounts to make thousands of doses. These types of drugs can easily be concealed in little vials making the Force's job even harder.

So how do departments like the Force work to decrease the use and abuse? By taking down the hierarchy. Of course every case is different but they work to bring down the person at the top. Generally, the head person does not use the drug but seeks profits. Through a variety of steps, the Force works their way up the ladder to cut the head off the snake. Throughout these steps, the Force receives information from different informants who are typically abusers. The Force does everything in their power to help these abusers seek and get treatment if they should want it at places like Prelude in Iowa City. 

These situations and cases can be extremely dangerous for the agents and officers involved. Officers and paramedics carry narcan or naloxone, a prescription medicine that blocks the effects of opioids and reverses an overdose, to ensure their safety.  

The Force emphasized the use of cell phones on their cases. They continually use and need access to an abusers phone who has overdosed to accumulate the needed information to be of service for the family as well as for the investigation. The amount of information stored on someone's cell phone is enormous. As a result, the importance of parents knowing the passcode for their child's phone is dire for departments like the Force because they are not able to "break" into the phone without the code. Parents need to make sure they have the child either write down the passcode for them or write it down themselves in the event something would happen.  

The University of Iowa has not had problems with heroine overdoses. The Force did mention they see a lot of problems with prescription drugs such as Adderall, Concerta, and Ritalin as well as Marijuana. 

This all demonstrates the importance of awareness and education. With this increasing epidemic, everyone must know how to properly store and dispose of their medications. A majority (67%) of abusers get their drugs from friends, family, and grandparents especially. Elderly people tend to hoard or keep their medications for years and years. This is easy access for an abuser. By having every person in the family involved in the conversation, we can decrease access to these medications. 

Overall, we all can make a difference in this epidemic by simply educating ourselves and those around us. Make sure you properly store and dispose of your medications as well as initiate the conversation. One word, one conversation could save someone's life.