Heroin Is the Russian Roulette of Our Generation

(Photography: Kamelia Ani) Below is the speech Cook delivered to Morris Knolls High School in New Jersey. New Jersey is just one state of many where the heroin epidemic just isn't letting up. It is reported two people a day, on average, are overdosing. This, as well as her other efforts to combat the heroin epidemic and help families cope with addiction, will be featured in an upcoming PBS Documentary. Heroin sucks. It really, really does. It sucks not just in the "man, that sucks" way but also in the literal way. It sucks the happiness out of homes. It sucks the trust out of relationships. It sucks the dreams from a peaceful night's sleep. It sucks the literal life out of those who use and those who watch those who use. People still roll their eyes when I call addiction a disease. Yet, when I call it a FAMILY disease, I am not met with the same adversity. Something in the person breaks and they recognize, even but for a moment, that I am sick, physically and mentally ill, over what I watch unfold every day. Maybe they can see it in my eyes. My very tired, dry, bloodshot eyes. Maybe they can feel it in my frail shoulder blades when they hug me and have no idea what to say other than "have you eaten today?" Maybe they can understand it when they hear me crying in the middle of the night even though I turned the shower and the sink on to kill the noise of my pain. Yes, MY pain. All because of a bag of powder that skulked into my life through the bloodstream of someone I l...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news