Substance Abuse Prevention Sunday is March 19.
By Denise George
Special to The Alabama Baptist
In January 2016, Alabama couple Mary Ann Landers, 31, mother of two, and her husband, Wesley Landers, 32, both of Trinity, shot up heroin in their seven-month-old baby’s hospital room at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Ohio. Their daughter, Lucy, had had surgery for tracheal reconstruction to correct a birth defect. Medical staff found Mary Ann Landers on the floor dead beside her daughter’s bed, the needle still in her arm. Wesley Landers was unresponsive but survived. The Landerses attended Family Baptist Church, Trinity.
“This is a sad statement on our society when it is becoming … commonplace … hearing about victims … overdosing in all sorts of public locations,” said Lakshmi Sammarco, the Coroner of Hamilton County, Ohio.
In the early hours of Nov. 11, 2016, Cassidy Aspen Cochran, a 22-year-old Alabama resident and bride-to-be, died from a heroin overdose. In her obituary Cochran’s family revealed her secret heroin addiction and wrote: “We write this not to dishonor her memory but to shine some light on an illness that is taking the lives of far too many. If we allow shame, guilt or embarrassment to cause this illness to become a dark family secret, hiding in the shadows, everyone loses.”
Former Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange, now a U.S. senator, said, “We’re seeing a huge uptick in heroin leading to deaths. … [It’s] a silent killer but it’s very important that we get ahead of it.”
Heroin, most often transported from Jamaica, is cheap to buy and readily available in Alabama.
Walker County District Attorney Bill Adair said, “The cheap availability of heroin … has contributed to the issues we’re having now.”
Synthetic opioid
Some drug dealers are adding Fentanyl to heroin to amplify its impact. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid, much more deadly than heroin, often prescribed by physicians to relieve severe pain. It is 100 times more potent than Morphine and 50 times stronger than heroin. It can quickly cause unconsciousness and death.
Hueytown Police Chief Chuck Hagler said, “The heroin market appears to be here to stay. And the addition of Fentanyl has brought a deadly new problem to the table.”
Hoover Police investigative services captain Gregg Rector agreed, adding, “Fentanyl is certainly much more deadly than heroin and it’s occasionally sold and consumed in its pure form. The scary part of that scenario is that addicts don’t [have] a clue what they’re injecting or snorting.”
Some dealers also are adding the dangerous Carfentanil to heroin. Carfentanil is an elephant tranquilizer used to subdue 13,000-pound African bush elephants. It is approximately 10,000 times more potent than Morphine and 100 times more potent than Fentanyl.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Denise George, author of 30 books, is co-author of the new Penguin Random House book, “The Lost Eleven: The Forgotten Story of Black American Soldiers Brutally Massacred in World War II.” She is married to Timothy George, founding dean of Beeson Divinity School at Samford University in Birmingham.
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How pastors, churches can help stop substance abuse
• Speak/preach often about the increasing rate of substance abuse in your church and community. From your pulpit, promote the Southern Baptist Convention Sunday emphases, such as Substance Abuse Prevention Sunday on March 19. Plan a special service, talk about the problem, invite a guest speaker to give information or ask a former abuser to give a testimony.
• Educate your church members on the most abused substances in your community/state. Teach them how to recognize the physical, emotional and behavioral signs of substance abuse and encourage them to report a possible abuser to church leadership.
• Plan separate church events or programs for youth/parents that expose the dangers of a variety of drugs and alcohol and offer insights into understanding commonly used drugs, addictions and the health/emotional consequences of illegal drug/alcohol abuse (see “Signs of drug abuse/addiction,” this page).
• Research, check out and make a list of qualified health care providers and drug/alcohol treatment centers in your area. Keep the information available and updated in order to contact them in case of an emergency. Enlist help or recommend treatment to abusers and/or family members who care for them. Search the Internet for state and national information, recording and sharing helpful websites and available resources with church leadership and members (see “Helpful resources,” below).
• When you encounter a church or community member overdosing on or abusing drugs, take immediate action. Call 911 and get emergency help quickly.
(Compiled by Denise George)
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Helpful resources
• Alabama Treatment Programs by county can be found at www.drug-abuse.org/treatment-programs/Alabama.htm. 1-855-378-4228.
• For the Southern Baptist Convention’s (SBC) website that recommends drug treatment programs for addiction and substance abuse by state, visit www.drugtreatmentprogram.net/tag/southern-baptist-convention/.
• For the SBC website with recommendations specifically for Alabama Drug Treatment Programs and Rehabilitation Centers, visit www.drugtreatmentprogram.net/state/alabama. Call the 24-hour help line at 1-866-923-1134 to talk to a counselor.
(Compiled by Denise George)
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Signs of drug abuse/addiction
There are many physical and behavioral signs of drug abuse/addiction including:
• Anxiety
• Irritability
• Hyperactivity
• Lethargy
• Unpredictable mood swings
• Tremors
• Shakiness
• Red eyes
• Runny nose
• Problems with coordination
• Constant need for money
• Poor work or school performance
• Unexplained confusion
• Unusual weight gain or loss
• Physical withdrawal symptoms when not taking the drug
• Changes in attitude or friends for no reason
(Source: addictionblog.org)
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