Of all the drugs, I never really understood heroin and opiates in general. Numbing. Forgetting. No pain. Perhaps I haven’t had that kind of pain or mental anguish. I’ve heard it’s marvelous from those for whom it was their “thing”. But it just seemed like artificial narcolepsy.
Yet I understand crack. cocaine, LSD, Amphetimines. They make sense to me.
I suppose there are different temperaments with people, some feeling a need to numb, some feeling a need to awaken – I really don’t know for sure.
But the addictive power of opiates is just so overwhelming.. and now with the added factor of the potential of death? A typical adolescent bit of “I’m invincible!” combined with something with instantly lethal power, is scary.
I remember stories with speedballs showing up in the paper now and again in NJ. Right in my town – I knew the families and remember when it happened: One 15 yr old boy had a bad reaction and was dying after a Speedball. Five friends ran off. Left the boy on the couch and just hoped he’d get better. A few hours later one called for help from another town. Too late.
3pm-5pm. Wasn’t even weekend or night. Average suburban kids. Just typical after school with access to something akin to Russian Roulette.
That’s what’s scariest of all. It’s not uncommon to experiment. It’s almost stereotypical and expected. And with this? Potentially instantly deadly.
The 5 kids? They all voluntarily gave themselves up. Charges as kids because they were and that’s how it goes. What could a town/state/country do to prevent it from happening in the future? Not much. Nobody wants to deal with teenagers.
So they’re left to their own devices.