There is a lot of stigma attached to people who work in the substance abuse field with "those people". "Those people" are, of course, us. People forget that chemical dependency is a deadly disease and people die.
This fact, that people die from the diseases that GCASA attempts to alleviate, reminds me again of the importance of our work and the serious responsibility that we, as professionals have for our clients, their families, and our communities.
Therefore, today I am starting a new series on this blog entitled "Drugs kill". I post these articles not to sensationalize, but to remind GCASA Cares readers of the seriousness of chemical dependence and the life saving work that our substance abuse professionals perform every day.
From the Chicago Tribune, January 26,2009:
"One of the group, Jordan D. Billek, 18, later told police that he and a man named Nathan L. Green "are heroin users and they had purchased a quantity of heroin in the Chicago area, along with a quantity of cocaine," authorities said
The group spent the night using the drugs, and, reports said, Green injected York with heroin "because York had not injected heroin in a while and he was having trouble doing so."
After he was injected, York began to show signs of an overdose, officials said. He stopped breathing and lost consciousness, according to the report. Green and Billek resuscitated him twice, and they took steps to lower York's body temperature to avoid seizures, the documents say. The five then spent the night at the house, with York in an upstairs guest bedroom, authorities said.
The following morning, as Billek, Green and the third man headed to a gas station, Parker called, according to authorities. York was dead, she said. Billek and Green returned and found York "cool to the touch," reports said."
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This is article #1 in a series on Drugs kill.
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