Fentanyl addiction needs support, treatment
It is a cold, windy and wet day in March, the sleet is coming down sideways and cuts through the skin like tiny razor blades and soaks your hair like you have just stepped out of the shower. It is the type of spring day where the last place you want to be is outside doing anything unless necessary.
Outside a local favorite fast-food restaurant, huddled underneath their jackets to protect from the rain, are four people smoking fentanyl. This is so common now that it is an expected sight as I walk from the gym to my car, I have to avert my eyes as soon as I get within 20 feet of them as I am sure someone will try to get me to give them some money. This is happening simultaneously at several locations throughout the city. This is the new normal.
Once a hidden and secretive thing, shooting up heroin in hidden alleyways and bathrooms, has now morphed into Frankenstein’s monster. Set out to destroy everything in its path without any regard for its maker or in this case user, the townspeople chase it with sticks and torches hoping to scare it off, but it multiplies so quickly they are soon overcome by its offspring at every turn. In the way, way back, the junkie was a part of society, part of a family, and if they could get a dose every day, they could put off the sickness of withdrawal and somewhat function in our world.
Today, that has all changed with fentanyl, a drug so addictive the addicts are getting “dope sick” in a matter of two short hours. They must constantly use it to keep it at bay. Their tolerance gets bigger and bigger, and the amount they need to get high becomes greater and greater. Unless they have an endless supply of money or pills, they are truly unable to hold a job and work. The addiction must be constantly fed to be able to function at all.
Most of the addicts out there now have suffered from untreated trauma, untreated mental illness and a true lack of comprehensive medical care for a very long time. I believe untreated trauma and mental illness lead a lot of people down the road toward addiction. There are many studies about this in fact, and it is surely one of the reasons we are seeing more addicts today.
One harsh truth is this: Suppose an addict out on the streets really wants to get clean. There is a tiny window of opportunity for an addict to get somewhere that has a bed, hard to do with no money and no insurance. To really make a difference, we must go to Congress to find a way to bring back institutional help funded by the federal government and not rely on private insurance and charities. We must create legislation that creates and funds long-term treatment. The road out of this crisis will be long and grueling.
We cannot force people to go to treatment or a detox center, but even if they want to, there are few places to go. We must create a nationwide framework that gives addicts a safe place to get clean and sober, gets them the mental health help they need, and provides a safe environment where they can learn how to get back into society by creating a workforce from the clients of the center. A 30-day treatment model, as often used today, is no longer sufficient.
The ravages of meth and fentanyl have turned people into shells who have little clue how to show up for a job, pay rent or be in the world as a functional person. We must provide treatment that gives people the space and time they need, at no cost. Such programs must pay their staff a living wage. Only then can addicts have a legitimate opportunity to return to life as whole human beings.