Instead of boring you with the clich, national statistics about how drugs are killing x-amount of people or how bad they are for your body, we want to introduce a simple fact to you. In short, drugs in the Trumbull and Mahoning area, your very own backyard, are running rampant.
Drug abuse officials from this area have told us that drugs in their many forms pose a serious threat to the well-being of all age groups. Whether it is heroin, methamphetamines, or pills, drugs are causing users to surrender their health and freedom to a substance.
The problem with drugs, other than the endless list of health problems, is the addiction factor. Many don't exactly understand the problem with addiction. If the human body is ideally created with the idea that it is independent from all substances (excluding food, water, etc., that are substances only needed for the fact that it gives energy), then being addicted to a drug is not healthy in itself. Experts have researched the effects drugs have, and have concluded that they take hold of the mind. No one enjoys having a person dictating how they think and act. People want to be able to fly solo in their lives. So why would you want to have a drug tell you what to do?
Article Photos
Illustration by Allie Vugrincic / JFK High school
There are over 300 million people living in America today. Out of all those people over 23.5 million are addicted to drugs or alcohol. It's estimated that over 116 thousand will die due to overdoses just in a year. That's not adding the ones who die in drug or alcohol related accidents, or those whose body gives up due to the lack of food or sleep. Addiction can affect anyone, it doesn't matter if you live in the poorest area or the richest, this is happening everywhere, anyone can be an addict.
There is no 'functioning' addict. Behind every person dependent on drugs living on the streets is someone who thought they were 'functioning' and had everything in control when in reality, they lost everything for their addiction.
A lot of people wish to believe that drug addiction and drug overdoses are not a big problem, and that no one they come into contact with, whether it is their mother, son, friend, or enemy, has a problem. Also, many people have preconceptions of the types of people that do drugs, but these are not true. There are many different types of people who use. Drug addiction covers all lifestyles, incomes, and ethnicities. It is important to always keep this in mind, and not to stereotype someone as a person who does not do drugs.
Fact Box
Drug Statistics
1 in 5 people between the ages of 16-59 have tried or been addicted to drugs or alcohol.
Every 14 minutes someone dies from an over dose.
The leading cause of accidental death in Ohio is drug overdose.
For the first time, more people will die this year from drug overdoses than traffic crashes.
Prescription drugs are associated with MORE deaths than Heroin,
Cocaine, and Methamphetamine combined.
Treatment options
Community Solutions Association of Warren Ohio
320 High St., Warren, OH
Phone: 330-394-9090
Glenbeigh- ACMC Healthcare System
2863 State Route 45, Rock Creek, OH
Phone: 1-800-234-1001
Neil Kennedy Recovery Clinic
160 Clifton Drive NE, Suite 1, Warren, OH
Phone: 330-609-5441
New Start Treatment Center for Chemical Dependency
1296 Tod Place #205, Warren, OH
Phone: 330-306-5010
Meridian Services, LLC
527 North Meridian Road, Youngstown, OH
Phone: 330-797-0070
Do not disregard this as a message you have heard before. Take it from two people that are above the influence of drugs. To open yourself up to the heartache that can occur is too much for yourself and others to accept. Please, if you are addicted, we are asking you to seek treatment. Don't leave your family and friends wishing they could have helped you, don't let them think it's their fault you overdosed. There are places in the area that specialize in helping people who have become dependent on drugs or alcohol to get their lives back.