I’m a drinker so while I am fully aware of the fentanyl crisis I have no experience or understanding. It is becoming quite an issue in our community. A 14 year old at my daughter’s school just died last week from it.
Is there any former opioid and/or fentanyl users here that might be able to give me some advice to keeping my daughters away from this? Is there something you wish someone had said or done with you that might have kept you away?
Fortunately right now my daughter is not at risk…however the girl who died apparently died after her first use. Foolishly she thought it would help her get over breaking up with her boyfriend.
I am a recovering opioid user. I started when I was 13. Honestly stay away from the drugs are bad and this is what they do just be honest and up from with her tell her how much u love her and trust her and that your just worried about her safety. I’m not saying that it was like this for everyone but I knew my parents didnt care… drugs and cutting were my way of escaping and feeling better or number to the reality that I lived. I never believed that death could happen to me I was invincible. No one ever thinks it could happen to them… until it to does…
The interesting thing is that I think the kids know that this can kill them…they don’t care. At least this girl was apparently saying it couldn’t be worse. She would either be “happy” or she would be dead…both were better than being miserable.
That makes me so sad.
There’s been a few other stories in the news from recovering addicts that say they knew it could kill them but they felt so awful when not on the drug they didn’t care…they just needed that fix to feel “normal” again.
I’m not naive to what this drug is doing…but I was naive to the prevalence in our nice upper middle class suburban neighbourhood.
It’s heartbreaking AND scary…this is our school and this girl was just 1 grade ahead of mine. My daughter is so oblivous to the immediate issue. She totally gets that this goes on but she has no clue it is right there in front of her in her school. And I guess that is good to some extent. I was equally naive in my days so I had no clue it was easy to get. But I want to discuss as much with her so she knows that if someone OFFERS it she will know to say “no thanks”.
I’m a little annoyed that the school is not taking the immediate issue seriously. They are talking about it from a city public health perspective but they are ignoring the fact that this girl got it…and quite easily…so likely from someone AT THE SCHOOL. I keep asking “are they talking about it in class” and she says “not really”. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE???
And of course Daddy’s response to this is “So, you know NEVER to take ANY drugs!!”…as if this girl’s parents didn’t say exactly the same thing to her.
Thank goodness we have no pills like that in our house…but I am going on a trip soon and will be filling a prescription for ativan. I’ll be sure to discard any leftovers ASAP.
I have a 16 y/o step-daughter that goes to school that’s ramped with drugs of all kinds. We sat her down, asked her what she knew/what she was seeing amongst her peers. We told her additional info she wasn’t aware of…the ugly side. We discussed addiction running in the family that she needed to be aware of. We offered her coping skills and what to say if she found herself in a situation. Be an open book and available for them to open up. Don’t sugar coat it. This could save their life if they know that no discussion is off limits.
