A "former" friend of Pirate's that he went all through school with, we found out is now selling drugs. Last night Pirate got a phone call from a friend that So and So had died from an overdose. He was a steady customer of Pirate's friend.
So now, having gone through his year book, Pirate noticed that only a small handful of men and women he went to school with are still alive.
My granddaughter; the same thing. A lot of her school friends are no longer here.
Every week when our local paper hits the streets, the first thing everyone in the family reads are the obituaries. At least twice and sometimes more, a month, someone in this family has to make a trip to a funeral home and offer their condolence. Not because some old geezer like myself has passed, but a child in someone's family has overdosed.
I was prescribed last month a very mild pain med. For ghost pain I very rarely have. It is still sitting in my nightstand drawer untouched. But the law now states in Massachusetts, if a pain medication is prescribed for a patient, the medical facility MUST provide at least one dose of Narcan. There are two young women in this building caring for an elderly parent. Both are drug users. One of the parents is now in hospice and the daughter got a call this morning to get there if she wanted to say her goodbyes. Pirate has been keeping an eye on her and this morning he got the package of Narcan down for "just in case." I hope we will not need to use it. But I do have my doubts.
So if there is no opioid crises, then I am not sure what is. We both know for sure that she has been a regular customer of Pirate's school friend. Call me a Rat, or any name you want, but should she too overdose, I WILL report him.
The system is that the seller is more than likely a drug user themselves. In order to feed their habit, they have to sell in order to have enough cash to feed their own use. All they need is to find just one person who is going through a crisis, and before you know it you have another user/seller on the streets. A vicious circle.
It took a long time for this crisis to reach Eastie. Only due to our location. You have to go over the bridge or through one of the tunnels to get here. And you have to pay.
Recently I read a news item that a pharmaceutical company has produced a pain medication stronger than any on today's market. Medical kickbacks are illegal. And that is exactly what the pharmaceutical companies are giving the doctors.
I still can't believe I have Narcan in my home.