Oxycontin Tale

I thought I should share this with you.

A young member of my family was out with friends on a Saturday night. A young fellow she had gone to school since play school to high school graduation showed up and was very drunk. His friends offered to drive him home as he was not in shape to drive. He told them he had done a bunch of oxycontin as well.

They wanted to take him to the hospital but he insisted on going home. They took him home and told his parents that he had taken the pills as well as drank excessively. He insisted he just needed to go to bed so that is what his parents allowed him to do. The rest of his friends left and felt they had done the right thing driving him home and letting his parents know.

Well the next day they found out the boy never woke up, he died during the night.

About a week later I had a call on my hot line from a 15 year old boy. There was a girl at school he thought was really cool and he and she were becoming friends. She told him she did oxy's and liked them. He didn't think this was good and wanted to advise
on how to help her.

Well I told him look, you are 15 and so is she. She thought the pills were great and didn't want to stop taking them. He didn't want to loose her friendship so he didn't feel like he wanted to get her parents involved, he just wanted to help her.

I let him know his heart is in the right place and it is great he wants to help her but he was playing with fire. She could OD any time, it is not a drug to play around with. He is just too young to deal with it. She is in serious need of the help of her parents.

We talked for a while, he had gone over the situation with his parents and they weren't sure what he should do.
I got his agreement that he would talk to his parents and ask them to help him by informing her parents and by doing so giving them the opportunity to get help for her.

His mom had walked into the room while we were talking and overheard the conversation. She spoke to me and thanked me for helping her son.
Then she and I talked over how she and her husband should approach the matter.
We worked out something she felt they could do.

I never heard from them again.

So I hope they did, I hope the girl's parents get her help, I hope no one is stupid about this and waits around. I hope it works out better than it did for my young family member's friend and his family.

HELP SOMEONE ON OXYCOTIN

I posted the below article on OxyContin/oxycodon (same drug two names, it is like having an alias) because this is a common drug of abuse in Canada.

The thing not covered in the article is what do you do if you or someone close to you becomes addicted. Solutions are needed.

Basically this drug addiction can be treated like any other street addiction by:
1. recognizing there is indeed an addiction and deciding to do something about it
2. going through a detox to stop using the drug and clean out the body and regain some health
3. getting through a rehabilitation program that brings the individual back to his former state prior to the addiction and he can face his future with with confidence.

That is really the simplicity of drug rehab stop taking the drug and then do a good rehab program. The grip of the addictive substance, the apathy and fear the addict may feel about his/her ability to change their life, the discomfort of withdrawal, confronting one's life and becoming responsible for it are all parts of the complications. On top of all of that there are always barriers in getting into a program when ready to go. These can be in cost, in wait time, or in suitability of program to the person.

Often times the complications overwhelm the addict and he can't/won't make the decision to attempt to regain control of his/her life.

This is where families, friends, counsellors, ministers, anyone who gives a hoot can help and should help. Words of encouragement, some acknowledgement of the existence of the addict and what he has to face, offers of support in finding a program all done without condoning or in any way helping the addict to continue his drug use.

If you know someone addicted to OxyContin or any drug make the decision to help them.

This is a subject I will continue blogging about and am interested in feedback from those who can add their insights in the comments.