In the past few years, California has seen a spike in opioid-related addiction and deaths. Sadly, an alarming amount of these deaths have been caused by a “cloaked killer” called fentanyl. Fentanyl is a highly potent, synthetic opioid that is prescribed to those suffering from severe pain like cancer. The fentanyl causing these recent deaths has not been pharmaceutical fentanyl, rather illegally made fentanyl that has been cut into other illegal drugs such as cocaine, heroine, xanax, percocet, ecstasy, and many others. The goal of most people in this world is to make money. It’s way cheaper for a dealer to cut some fentanyl into their product, than to keep it pure. The users of these substances almost never have any clue what they are actually buying, raising the risk of a purchase that has been cut with fentanyl. Anytime someone buys a non prescription drug from a dealer, or even a friend, they’re playing a game of russian roulette.  This is leading to obscene levels of  overdose in teens and young adults. 

Most people picture a killer as a person. Most people are an average of 125-200 pounds ranging from five feet to six. Most people wouldn’t think that a couple grains, smaller than a dime, weighing no more than 2 milligrams, would also be able to be kill. Let’s put this into perspective: Something that weighs the same as the tip of your pencil is able to kill you, and the scary part is that it would be easy for a dealer to be off by .1 milligram, and then there goes someone’s life. Just like that.

Now this all got me wondering how addiction can start, so I decided to look into it and found that there are many ways in which people become addicted.

Some young adults may start off with trying a drug at a party, just for the experience. They then like the effects and decide to do it again at the next one and then at the one after that, thinking that it’s all the same and is harmless; however, drugs physically alter the chemicals in your brain. They make your brain and your body feel like you are not able to function without them. They change your personality, control your energy, then finally your emotions. These drugs give young adults this euphoria, and feeling of content and happiness, and they feel as though they can’t ever feel this way again without taking a substance again. In the end addiction is like handing the wheel to your life over to drugs.

Now I personally want to bring to light one of the main underlying causes of addiction, and one that seems to not be talked about as much, which is mental health. First let’s talk about PTSD.  According to The American Psychiatric Association, PTSD is short for “post traumatic stress disorder,” meaning that people struggle with this illness after something traumatizing has happened to them in their life. People tend to get PTSD effects whenever they are reminded of what happened to them. These symptoms can include agitation, irritability, hostility, hypervigilance, self-destructive behavior, social isolation, flashbacks, fear, severe anxiety, mistrust, insomnia, and/or nightmares. Picture yourself in the shoes of someone going through these symptoms weekly or even daily. How do you think you would handle it? Would you want to live with these feelings, or would you want to try to get rid of them? What about if you suffered from depression, anxiety, Bipolarisim, multiple personality disorder, or any other mental illness? People who don’t suffer from these illnesses tend to think those who do are being over dramatic, or act out for attention, but the truth of it is they can be extremely debilitating. No one wants to have to live with the symptoms of these illnesses, and most don’t have the money to seek professional help for them. Even if they did have the money, our society doesn’t make it easy for people to actually receive the help they need. All anyone wants in this world is to be truly happy, and most just want to be “normal.” So what other options are they left with? These people then tend to turn to drugs in hopes of diminishing, and finding a way to cope with, their symptoms, even if it’s just for a little bit. 

According to the Addiction Center, “For those struggling with depression who feel there is no end in sight, drugs and alcohol may sometimes appear to be an easy solution to their problems. These substances can temporarily subside any emotional pain and bring about a sense of happiness.” They turn to illegal street-drug versions of medications like Xanax for instance because it seems simpler and cheaper for them to get than trying to get a prescription. But like I talked about above, YOU CAN NEVER KNOW WHAT’S TRULY IN ANY STREET DRUG. Not only that, but most drugs or substances that are cut into them, will make the user’s mental illness symptoms worse after the high wears off. 

Addiction doesn’t only happen to people who struggle with mental illnesses or to those who are looking to party. It can happen to people who are just overwhelmed with their job or the pressure society puts on them to achieve certain expectations. It can happen to those who are suffering from severe mental, or physical pain. 

 As a society these things are not talked about enough. People see an addict or hear about an overdose and think to themselves “poor people” or “they should have made better decisions.” We need to change these stereotypes and actually take a second to try and help these people. How about we try to stop addiction and overdose before they occur? Since the Covid lockdown which began February 2020 (for California) with it’s extremely isolating nature, the mental health of this country and the deaths due to overdose have significantly worsened: “Provisional drug overdose death counts through May 2020 suggest an acceleration of overdose deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic”. 

It’s time to pull together as a society and see that we offer these people for help at this time isn’t helping, that we need to work together to educate those on the truth behind substance abuse and find ways to actually make a difference in these people’s lives before it’s too late.