I've read some newspaper articles about the rise in heroin use across Vermont--that's not really happening in OUR community, though, right??

As much as we would all love to believe that our pristine state is somehow protected from this national trend, it’s not. So…the short answer is that heroin is a growing problem in Vermont, and yes, it’s true, even within OUR community. I have heard many students over the years say that they just wanted to try heroin. I can understand their curiosity given the amount of coverage about it in the news and popular media. It seems like every week there is some celebrity checking into rehab for heroin addiction. However, heroin is not a drug that you “just try.”

When I was a teenager there was a huge stigma about heroin. I had a picture in my head of some junkie with track marks all over his body. The needle thing was always a big deterrent for me! Unfortunately, the heroin that is around today is so pure that it can be snorted. (This was not the case 20 years ago.) And, now that you don’t have to use big, scary needles, more people are willing to try heroin! There is this false sense of safety—people think that somehow it is not as dangerous, not as addictive, and they are not as likely to overdose if it is snorted. However, in reality, the drug is just as powerful when it is snorted as it is when injected!

Most people do not understand what heroin can do to you. The statement, “I just want to try it once” shows a complete ignorance about how dangerous the drug is. It is not something you use “recreationally.” The high is so intense that people want to repeat the experience. However, they can’t. Why? Because tolerance develops so quickly that a person needs to take more and more of the drug each time to get the same high. This leads to physical and psychological dependence on the drug. Eventually, people start to use heroin to avoid withdrawal symptoms, and not really to get high. People become violently ill (“dope sick”) when they stop using this drug. This is called “withdrawal,” or perhaps more appropriately, “hell.”

Knowing all of this, why would anyone want to even try it? People who use heroin usually have extensive experience with other drugs. Also, I think that some people find it more appealing because it is so taboo. The final factor is that we are talking about young people who often have a sense of omnipotence—the “it won’t ever happen to me” syndrome—that comes with the job description for teenagers!

I don’t want to sound like Chicken Little and make it seem like everyone at CVU is doing heroin now; however, I will tell you that I have sent more than a few kids to rehab for heroin addiction.