“There’s no DARE class that could have come through a high school and tell you (the dangers) of opioids. Nobody knew where it would take you and the road it would lead you down,” said David Wilbourn, resident manager at His Way Recovery Center in Huntsville, referring to a K-12 substance abuse prevention program. Fatal opioid overdoses in Alabama have more than doubled, from 155 in 2011 to 324 in 2016, according to a 2017 Center for Health Statistics report. “Nobody knew how powerful those things were,” said Wilbourn, who’s also a board member for Not One More Alabama, a Huntsville-based organization hoping to educate people about opioids and provide support for those trying to stop using. The power of opioids has been underestimated, Wilbourn said.
Wilbourn said he was addicted to heroin and Oxycontin until January 2015. He said he started using Oxycontin his junior year of high school, leading to his eventual heroin addiction and abuse. He said some people have a sense of false security about using opioids because they think doctor-prescribed substances are safe. “There’s no DARE class that could have come through a high school and tell you (the dangers) of opioids.” Meth is still the No. 1 drug threat statewide, according to the Center for Health Statistics report, mainly because it’s cheap and made with common household products, said Morgan County Circuit Judge Glenn Thompson.
Meth and crack deaths seldom stem from overdoses but rather from associated violence or organ failure, said Barry Matson, executive director of the Alabama Office of Prosecution Services. Local officials and activists agree deaths by opioids likely are caused by a lack of education about the dangers of such drugs. Lawrence County Coroner Greg Randolph said many overdoses are accidental, mainly because of the strength of the drugs. “The problem with opioids is the more they (users) take, the more they want,” Randolph said. “We used to see overdoses in mainly young people, but I see it in older people as well.They just don’t realize how powerful the drugs are.” Randolph said first responders are called to an overdose-related incident nearly every week in Lawrence County. >>>
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