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City sees fourth fatal heroin overdose in two months

Submitted by WWAY on Mon, 02/04/2008 - 5:54pm.READ MORE: City sees fourth fatal heroin overdose in two months
WILMINGTON -- Another person is dead after overdosing on heroin. This makes four fatalities in Wilmington in two months which police are aware of. There are only a few treatment facilities in our area, two of which are privately funded. The Tri-County Detox Center at New Hanover Regional Medical Center is a community detox center. The facility has 18 beds, 11 or 12 beds of which are generally occupied. Doctors who work with the center say there are occasions where they have not had enough room to take on new patients, but those patients are not denied care, they are just taken somewhere else. The Wilmington Treatment Center and Metro Clinic are both privately funded. Psychiatrist Dr. Patrick Martin says luckily, both places do accept insurance. Martin said, "For a while, the coverage for chemical dependency was very good, then for a while insurance companies would try and save money by cutting chemical dependency benefits, but that is reversing now." If a person isn't able to stay clean after being treated however, most insurance companies won't pay for treatment a second time. A 40-day stay in a substance abuse treatment center can cost up to $40,000.

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Darwin

Submitted by WilmingtonMAJ on Thu, 02/19/2009 - 10:12am.
It's called survival of the fittest, or thinning out the herd. If your stupid enough to start and continue to use heroin, then let's be thankful your geners are out of the pool! No little crack babies running around on government assistance!
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the war on drugs has failed

Submitted by local citizen (not verified) on Tue, 01/20/2009 - 12:09am.
the war on drugs has failed for decades we just keep spending billions of dollars that could be used on education which would be a much better use people are going to use drugs no matter what policies we enacted because they have money which creates tax-free profit for violent criminals that could be easily fix by legalizing drugs and taxing them
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I'm addicted to mountain dew.

Submitted by bejamming (not verified) on Mon, 01/19/2009 - 10:21pm.
If those folks from Pepsi would stop pedaling their product, I wouldn't be hooked. Marlboro has me addicted on butts because of their magazine commercials. Not my fault I'm addicted. It's socities fault.
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Heroin addiction is a brain

Submitted by guesty112267 (not verified) on Mon, 01/19/2009 - 7:50pm.
Heroin addiction is a brain disease. It doesn't matter how, when, where or why they became addicts. What matters is that they need help...and more help than they're getting. Do you treat people with disrespect because they have high blood pressure or diabetes...no you don't. You treat them with care and compassion. Heroin addicts just like other opiate addicts could have been prescribed opioids for pain and then found themselves addicted. Not being able to find opioids/pain killers they find heroin. Kids are kids...some will try it because there friends are using it. Heroin will never go away...unless poppies are eradicated from the earth. Drug dealers will never go away. The drug dealing circuit is larger than just a dealer here or there...The people behind these operations probably sit beside you in church. It makes me sick. We need to re-educate our youth and pay more attention to our children. They don't want to be heroin addicts...they just are. Heroin addicts need help and compassion not scorn and hate. Stop hating on heroin addicts. If you know a heroin addict...you know the dangerous position they are in...reach out and help them. What we're doing in this area is not working...we need to do more. We need to make it easier for heroin addicts to receive help and be treated with respect.
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Not a choice

Submitted by guesty on Tue, 01/20/2009 - 8:44am.
Having diabetes isn't a choice a person makes (unless it is due to them being overweight or lazy) I don't know of anybody that decided "I want to try some Type 1 diabetes." Plenty have made the choice to try heroin and have paid the price.
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Ok I see where you say that

Submitted by Kelly (not verified) on Thu, 02/19/2009 - 8:18am.
Ok I see where you say that because that's how I thought before until it happened to my boyfriend last year of 8 years. We are 23 with a 7 year old son. We both finished school and bought our 1st home 3 years ago with no state help. Well my boyfriend had hurt his back when he was younger riding bikes and still to this day has very bad back problems. He. Went to his doctors which his doc gave him a script for somas (not sure if I spelled that right). Well after being on them and then getting laid off cause real estate is not doing good he lost his ins. So no more scripts. I didn't think it was a big deal but then he told me he had bought oxycotten from someone he knows. I thought it was pills like what the doc gave him until I noticed it was getting worse. I went and looked up on the computer what it was. Its just like heroin. Well I found out that he was on heroin and he put himself in a rehab center. We now deal with hin craving all the time and he cries to me all the time because he is scared to go back. Its people like you why no one helps. I thought like that until god opened my eyes and helped me see that they are good people that just need the help and support of someone else. Until you help someone or seen it first hand don't say its a choice that they do.
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The ignorance of the posters

Submitted by Mik (not verified) on Tue, 02/05/2008 - 11:58am.
Are you people serious? Where is the compassion? It is called "addiction" for a reason. Perhaps if our society, a.k.a. fellow commenters, actually cared about someone other than themselves this problem could be erradicated. I pray you never have to suffer the anquish of having a relative addicted to drugs. It happens no matter race, religion or financial status. Good luck compassionless morons.
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Real Easy to Solve

Submitted by SurfCityTom on Thu, 02/19/2009 - 11:08am.
Mirror Indonesian Law. For users, the first offense is 2 years hard time. Second Offense is 5 years hard time. Third offense is a quick chop with a sharp blade. For dealers, the first offense is the final offense. Real simple to solve the problem. Put an effective and equally enforced penalty out there.
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Real Simple

Submitted by NotSoSimple (not verified) on Wed, 02/10/2010 - 5:34pm.

I lived in Miami when the Feds decided to "get tough" with cocaine kingpins and started handing out life sentences to major dealers. The only problem was the average sentence for murder was about 7 years. Witnesses were dropping like flies. Simple solutions often have unintended consequences.

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Mik...get over yourself

Submitted by WilmMan on Wed, 02/06/2008 - 12:32pm.
I've had relatives addicted to drugs and a friend has died from it. But that doesn't change the fact that it was their CHOICE to use drugs. I worry about my family and my friends, it's not my responsibility or job to worry about everyone else. Maybe people should start taking responsibility for their own actions instead of trying to blame everyone else. These people that have died from drugs knew the risks they were taking by using....and they paid the ultimate price. I feel bad for their families, but I could care less about those that have died
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Mama said...

Submitted by GuestinWhiteville (not verified) on Tue, 02/05/2008 - 9:33am.
Stupid is as stupid does! I sure don't feel sorry for those people who have overdosed and lost their lives.
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as a mother, you should not

Submitted by sherry (not verified) on Tue, 01/20/2009 - 8:22am.
as a mother, you should not want the grief of losing a child wished on anyone. I hope that you did not pass your disregard for human life onto your children. And also, I hope that your children never fall prey to addiction of any sort because it is apparent their mother will not be there for them due to your lack of compassion. I will pray for you.
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Reply to mama said

Submitted by Mama said something ignorant (not verified) on Mon, 03/24/2008 - 9:29am.
You should be totally ashamed for saying that and one day you will get your stupid is as stupid does this being your stupid thing and when it falls on you it will fall hard. You claim to be a mother, no mother would talk that way because will you want people to comfort you when and if your child overdoses. Think about harsh words before you say them.
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AREN'T THE DEALERS STILL THE PROBLEM?

Submitted by BAFFLED (not verified) on Tue, 02/05/2008 - 2:58am.
IS THERE SUCH A THING AS AN ANONYMOUS TIP ANY MORE?? WHY DON'T ANYONE FOLLOW UP? DO THE POLICE REALLY CARE ARE ARE THEY AFRAID? GETTING TO THE SOURCE IS THE ANSWER REALLY ISN'T IT? YOU CAN'T OVERDOSE IF YOU CAN'T GET IT...
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Drug usage

Submitted by Guest43 (not verified) on Mon, 02/04/2008 - 8:02pm.
I will be 60 years old next month. My entire life I have been taught and seen that certain drugs will kill. It is a shame that people are so stupid or hardheaded that this knowledge is ignored. We, as a nation, have spent billions of dollars on drug education, drug treatment centers, etc. As bad as it is to say, I think it's about time to let the druggies kill themselves and let the rest of society get on with the business of living.
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That would be great, but

Submitted by XX (not verified) on Tue, 02/05/2008 - 8:05am.
That would be great, but even those of us who don't do drugs are still at risk by these druggies who beat, rob, and kill people for money for their next fix.
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I only use heroin for recreational purposes

Submitted by Scally Wagg on Mon, 02/04/2008 - 7:35pm.
I only use heroin for recreational purposes and it's a good thing this report came out, now I'll be sure to stay away from it until this bad string of smack is identified.
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Not Funny

Submitted by Guest123456 (not verified) on Tue, 02/05/2008 - 9:35am.
If you are making a joke with your comment, then you have a poor sense of what is funny. If you are serious, then you seriously need help. The term "recreational drug" is an oxy-moron. What is recreational about taking a drug that has been shown to kill even with its first use? Only a moron would continue to play russian roulette with this or any drug. Wake up people...if you don't pay attention to your children and teenagers now and stress the importance of staying away from this stuff, then you can just plan to visit them every Saturday between the hours of 8 and 6. Be sure to bring fresh flowers. They make the grave look so much cheerier.
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WWAY Saved A Life

Submitted by Guest 3564 (not verified) on Tue, 02/05/2008 - 8:00am.
Good Job WWAY, looks like you may have saved one life with this story
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Heroin

Submitted by Heroine (not verified) on Mon, 02/04/2008 - 7:01pm.
Self correcting problem. Don't do drugs! Also, why is the title and first paragraph about the drugs and the rest about the methodone centers, which appear to be federally funded drug houses?
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You

Submitted by Guesttewrwerwerwer (not verified) on Tue, 02/05/2008 - 8:20am.
out of the gene pool. sticks and stones may break your bones but needles will kill you.
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