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As a parent, one of the biggest fears you have is whether your child will dabble with drugs. While most parents expect their teenage children to experiment with alcohol at some stage, the fear that they may try drugs is one that keeps many awake at night.
Drugs are often experimented with by teenagers during high school years, and while most will never go on to have any problems, there are those who will develop devastating addictions that can destroy their life. Watching on helplessly as a parent is heartbreaking.
Taking Our Children’s Lives
Drug abuse is a problem across the world, not just here in the UK. One man who has decided to do something about it is Sean O’Leary from Kanata, Ottawa, in Canada. Sean’s own daughter is struggling with a drug addiction, and after hearing of another teenage girl’s death from a drug overdose, he decided to write an emotional open letter and posted it on Facebook.
Sean said that while drug addiction is not a new problem, it is one that has now been ‘indiscriminately taking our children’s lives’.
In his letter, he addressed other parents about their children’s drug use, and said, “The days of the saying, ‘They need to hit rock bottom before getting better’ are over. Sadly, in most cases, today rock bottom is a slab at the morgue.”
Nightmare Way to Live
Sean’s daughter Paige is sixteen years old and abuses drugs. Sean said, “My first thought every morning is to check that Paige is alive. It is a nightmare of a way to live life, especially when you have other children and have to try to make their lives as normal as possible. I have locked her at home, chased her around, grabbed her off the streets, walked into people’s homes uninvited to take my daughter out of there; we have had paramedics and police to our home numerous times.”
He added, “But here we sit not knowing day to day whether our beautiful little girl will be alive tomorrow.”
Keeping Children Safe
Sean wanted to point out that his mission was not to try to solve the drug problem that has been going on for decades. However, he does want to put a stop to the way that certain drugs, such as counterfeit prescription opioids have been taking children’s lives. He said, “I do not know how many families are suffering the same fate as us right now, but I know there are many.”
Sean wants to set up a meeting for parents from the area so that they can all learn how to keep their children safe. He believes that parents should know how to use opioid blocker medication, also known as a ‘save shot’. He pointed out that in the past two months in Kanata, eight teens have overdosed.
Life-Threatening Overdoses
Opioid addiction is becoming a growing problem in many parts of the world, and regional officials in Canada have issued warnings about fake prescription medication that are being circulated. These pills resemble genuine prescription drugs such as Percocet and Oxycontin, but they have been cut with the deadly fentanyl and can cause ‘life-threatening overdoses’, according to CBC.
A statement from Ottawa Public Health read, “Obtaining drugs from a non-medical source such as a friend, ordering online, or a drug dealer is very risky and potentially life-threatening, as there is no way to know what is actually in them or how toxic they may be.”
Tackling Addiction
If you are struggling with a prescription drug addiction, contact us here at Blue Skies. We treat all types of addiction and our programmes are designed around the needs of the individual. For more information on our programme, contact us today.
Source:
- http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/father-letter-daughter-drug-addiction-sean-o-leary-kanata-ottowa-canada-facebook-14-year-old-girl-a7591911.html
