Heroin: Cape Cod, USA

[Tara Ariano]

A look at opiate addiction in the U.S. focuses on eight twentysomethings in Massachusetts, who discuss their drug habits and how they got started. Also: a visit to a support group for parents of abusers.

 

Premieres Monday, December 28, at 9 PM ET.

[Primetimer]

Or is watching another heartbreaking docu about addiction not on your list of New Year's resolutions?

Read the story

[Misanthrope]

The only way you could make "doing heroin off a Dunkin' Donuts gift card" more New England was if you did it wearing a Tom Brady jersey.

[Drogo]

First do no harm, second just keep on prescribing opioids for mild-to-medium injuries... This is a terrible epidemic.

[Funzlerks]

I ended up feeling so bad for all of them. Maybe a little less so for the dealer I suspected of also pimping. I am in my 30s and when I was young, I was around skaters, surfers, climbers, etc... Many of them had some pretty serious accidents like running a jet ski into a bridge and received lots of painkillers over long periods of time. Is there a difference in the protocols now? The drugs sound the same. Maybe I just didn't know what they were going through or maybe they just got doctors to keep on prescribing. Prescriptions for opiods were certainly less regulated then. I remember getting a scrip for some stitches and a twisted ankle. A ton for a broken arm. More for a second-degree burn. While I didn't need those opiods for those injuries, for almost a decade I used the leftovers when my cramps were unbearable. I could never get a diagnosis until I was in my 30s and doctors finally believed me about the symptoms.

Their houses looked so clean for heroin users. I joked that they must have a friend or roommate on meth to do the cleaning.

Edited December 29, 2015 by Funzlerks

[Latverian Diplomat]

One the one hand, it's good to hear people's stories in their own words. On the other hand, addicts are notorious bullshitters. No, your "co-dependent" parents aren't the problem, no the existence of opiates with legitimate medical uses is not the problem.

I thought the discussion of oversubscription was one-sided. I think you'd hear a very different story from some genuine sufferers of chronic pain who have trouble getting sufficient relief. I don't know what the answer is, but it's not "these drugs shouldn't be available".

[panthergirl13]

First do no harm, second just keep on prescribing opioids for mild-to-medium injuries... This is a terrible epidemic.

Totally agree, and even when prescribed for serious injuries there has to be some oversight.

 

My now-dead-ex-husband (yeah, I'm a dwidow) lost most of his left hand to a table saw (and no, that's not what killed him. He was a pretty unlucky person.). He had no health insurance so he was sent home from the trauma center with a pile of opioids although he had a history of addiction, lived alone and was basically despondent after this horrifying accident (did I mention he was left-handed? and an artist?). Not one medical professional ever checked in on him and he became addicted very quickly. He probably would have become a heroin addict if he hadn't died of lung cancer less than a year later. How's that for a feel-good story? 

[RemoteControlFreak]

A lot of unanswered, and even unasked, questions in this film:

 

1. About half of the addicts were described as becoming addicted to heroin after being prescribed opiates for an injury. What about the others? How did they get involved with heroin?

 

2. While the addicts and their parents all insist they come from "good families," what does this mean?  Is there a history of addiction in the families?  Do they have any insight into why their children became addicts while most children on the Cape do not and most people prescribed opiates do not become addicted?

 

3. Why is there such an epidemic in this little corner of America?  We know that heroin addiction is widespread, but it's hit particularly hard on Cape Cod. Why?

 

4. What do these addicts do besides buy and sell drugs and get high?  Do any of them have jobs?  Do they go to to school?  How are they supporting themselves?  A little backstory would be helpful.

 

5. Interviews with an ER doctor and pharmacist are good, but what about other players, like police, rehab counselors, employers, doctors who prescribe opiates?  Why wasn't the ER doctor asked about his role as both a supplier of prescription opiates and a treater of heroin overdoses?

Edited January 3, 2016 by RemoteControlFreak

[AuntTora]

Def. something odd about Arianna. Unless I misheard...she said she'd been clean three years, but was still living in a sober house? Maybe I don't get it, but I'd think after three years of sobriety she'd be out on her own. Obviously she had little kids, but that seems to be a public assistance thing not a drug treatment thing, if she wasn't able to support herself and family. If she truly did have three years in the bank, and relapsed shortly after the interview, I can't imagine how badly everyone involved probably feels.

[fastiller]

A lot of unanswered, and even unasked, questions in this film:

 

1. About half of the addicts were described as becoming addicted to heroin after being prescribed opiates for an injury. What about the others? How did they get involved with heroin?

 

2. While the addicts and their parents all insist they come from "good families," what does this mean?  Is there a history of addiction in the families?  Do they have any insight into why their children became addicts while most children on the Cape do not and most people prescribed opiates do not become addicted?

 

3. Why is there such an epidemic in this little corner of America?  We know that heroin addiction is widespread, but it's hit particularly hard on Cape Cod. Why?

 

4. What do these addicts do besides buy and sell drugs and get high?  Do any of them have jobs?  Do they go to to school?  How are they supporting themselves?  A little backstory would be helpful.

 

5. Interviews with an ER doctor and pharmacist are good, but what about other players, like police, rehab counselors, employers, doctors who prescribe opiates?  Why wasn't the ER doctor asked about his role as both a supplier of prescription opiates and a treater of heroin overdoses?

To your points:

 

1. This would have been good to know; did they just start shooting up b/c of friends?

 

2. Also would've been good to shed some light on how many of the parents/grandparents were alcoholics, or had other addictions.

 

3. I think there are many, many pockets of these epidemics.  Watch The Oxycontin Express: it talks about a town in either Ohio or Kentucky where something like 90% of all crime is directly related to the Oxy addiction epidemic.  I get that Oxy isn't precisely heroin, but theye are both opioids.

 

4. Yep, again a little background would be nice.

 

5. THIS!! I was thinking about it after watching: what do first responders feel?  what about the folks in the legal professions (particularly judges who would be sentencing the addicts to rehab or other programs)? rehab counselors would've added to it too.

[cocobeans]

I know here in Virginia we are seeing a huge increase in the number of heroin overdoses since they dramatically decreased the amount of prescription pain pills being available.  With the availability of 'legal' narcotics reduced, their price has skyrocketed and people are not stopping using, instead they are switching over to (or just plain starting with) heroin.  As a family of first responders, we've just never seen anything like this before in 30+ years.  Things are not as bad here as in MA, but young teens are seeking out heroin, on purpose, as a starter drug! 

I thought the film gave a little taste to the viewer of how depressing and heartbreaking it is to work with addicts, to see the absolute waste of life, and health and opportunity.  And to see the next generation experiencing their trauma in front of our eyes with the neglect and eventual death of their parents...

Some police departments in MA* are trying new programs they are financing and running on their own.  These cops donating their personal time and money to help any addict that presents themselves at their police station and requests help.  They don't arrest them, they get them into a program out of state, far away from old friends and drug buddies.  The early numbers look better than local programs, removing them from their environment seems key.  

 

*I think it is Watertown, I'll look it up and update when I get home

[Darian]

Some police departments in MA* are trying new programs they are financing and running on their own.  These cops donating their personal time and money to help any addict that presents themselves at their police station and requests help.  They don't arrest them, they get them into a program out of state, far away from old friends and drug buddies.  The early numbers look better than local programs, removing them from their environment seems key.  

 

*I think it is Watertown, I'll look it up and update when I get home

Thanks for the info. I was curious about the Watertown program. I live in MA and visit the Cape fairly often, so I wanted to know  more to possibly support the effort (I vet charities and programs wicked hard). I found this article:

 

Ahead of ‘Erase the Stigma’ week – an outreach campaign to boost drug addiction treatment awareness in Watertown – the Watertown Police Department is taking steps to help addicts receive the treatment they need to start the recovery process.

This week, Watertown Police Chief Ray Dupuis announced the department would partner with The Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative (P.A.A.R.I.) to implement new addiction recovery initiatives.

 

 

And then The Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative (P.A.A.R.I.) site. 

 

It may not be the same effort you referenced. It's a non-profit and I don't see where they specifically send people out of town (I skimmed through but they mention partnering with a few local rehab facilties), just into rehab immediately. It looks like it began in Gloucester. Now, Watertown Police may have been doing this on their own and are now partnering or joined up with an existing program, but either way, good on them. I am heartened by this and will keep researching to see if I feel comfortable giving some support. Thanks again!

Edited January 8, 2016 by Darian

[cocobeans]

I had the town name wrong, its Gloucester MA (not Watertown)

 

Some links to different stories about the program:

 

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/08/14/gloucester-police-have-sent-more-than-for-drug-treatment/9dTb8pLEx9h9o1n2ykRIKO/story.html

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/leonard-campanello-gloucester-heroin_561427e7e4b0368a1a616ea7

 

They have helped a lot of addicts already, and they have found them placement in any program they can, wherever it may be located.  I know the interview I saw they said they were having better success with programs that were father away.  Imagine it has to do with breaking old patterns and getting away from friends/family that are still using.

 

I don't know if this program will work long term but I love that these cops are trying something new/different :-)

 

[candall]

I agree with everyone who would have liked additional scrutiny.  These young people are tragic and totally confusing to me and I would have made time for a four-part mini-series with deeper exploration.  Definitely a different strain from the molested-at-twelve addicts on Intervention.

 

On the one hand, they all seemed like typical products of rearing where (as some stated) they got anything they wanted.  And what they want now is dope.  The excuses didn't sound any different from any immature and chronically entitled 20-year old justifying him/herself.  (I HATE that "affluenza" is the new Twinkie Defense.)

 

On the other hand, if your kid is popular, engaged in extra-curricular activities and showered with college acceptance letters, who in the world would pause to think, "Must keep an eye out for heroin"?

 

The only guy who was completely understandable to me was the one who recognized he got tremendous positive reinforcement from the chaos.  "I like the robbing and the running and the scoring and the rush; regular life is boring by comparison."

 

But I'm not a parent and fortunately I was old enough to remove myself when fun drugs started becoming too fun, so I haven't walked the mile in anyone's shoes.

 

Good show, though, HBO--you made your point.  If I'd read an article about this, I wouldn't have believed it.

[Funzlerks]

I think the heroin problem is more of a symptom of this generation getting less than what their parents had in terms of opportunity and access to the elusive so-called American Dream. This was what black communities have felt for decades, but now good-read white communities in the Northeast are feeling that sinking feeling of inertia. You watch a 20 year old movie like Parenthood and you have a white, 25 year-old ne'er-do-well drug user scoffing at being offered a job as a vice-president of a pencil company. And, while the character was a snot, in the 80s white men from"good" families had options. Well, nowadays that pencil company is in Vietnam and those 25 year olds are facing a lifetime of working at Dunkin' Donuts until they can pass a pee test for those $12 a hour Home Depot jobs. Choosing to spend a lifetime on drugs makes more sense.

[Enero]

I didn't think this documentary was all that good or interesting. As already been stated it was anemic with the information it provided. It spent way too much time on the addicts and not enough time on why this is suddenly an epidemic in Cape Cod. They mentioned the issue with people being over prescribed prescription drugs but almost every addict interviewed for this documentary were already into drugs and alcohol at a very young age. Heroin seemed like the next phase in their experimentation. I think only one of the addicts got hooked due to being prescribed medication after an accident the others got hooked because they liked to party.

I would've liked to have heard more from the pharmacist, seen them talk to doctors who prescribe medication that can and do cause addiction and hear from the local hospitals and police about when they started to see an uptick in herion use and what they are doing to combat it. Of course that would of made for a longer documentary but I think it would've been better for it. This wasn't any different from the other generic documentaries out there on heroin addiction.

Edited January 31, 2016 by Enero

[stillshimpy]

On 1/14/2016 at 7:49 PM, Funzlerks said:

I think the heroin problem is more of a symptom of this generation getting less than what their parents had in terms of opportunity and access to the elusive so-called American Dream. This was what black communities have felt for decades, but now good-read white communities in the Northeast are feeling that sinking feeling of inertia. You watch a 20 year old movie like Parenthood and you have a white, 25 year-old ne'er-do-well drug user scoffing at being offered a job as a vice-president of a pencil company. And, while the character was a snot, in the 80s white men from"good" families had options. Well, nowadays that pencil company is in Vietnam and those 25 year olds are facing a lifetime of working at Dunkin' Donuts until they can pass a pee test for those $12 a hour Home Depot jobs. Choosing to spend a lifetime on drugs makes more sense.

 

 

 

I agree despair plays a part in some addiction stories.  Sometimes people want to try and dull an existential pain vs. a physical one.  Those are usually the people who don't have the "a doctor prescribed this for me" origin stories.  

I'm insanely lucky, in that even though I had a serious car accident many years ago, I'm one of the members of the population that hurls almost nonstop if given any kind of opioid.  I can take them if I'm given a fairly powerful antinauseant but they hold very little appeal for me because I'll still itch and become nauseated anyway, the antinauseant will just keep me from throwing up.   

It turned out to be a genetic trait and my son can't tolerate them either.  Thank the universe for small mercies, I guess.   So I was prescribed opioids years ago and hated them.  He had some for a surgery a few years ago and I had to take him to the ER in the middle of the night where they had to administer an antinauseant typically used to treat people vomiting from the after effects of cancer drugs to get him to stop throwing up.  

My SIL, from a good family, an affluent family with involved parents, is a heroin addict in recovery for whatever that is worth.  She's been through 8 rehabs and the 8th took, again if we're going to call it that, as she is on methadone.   She became pregnant three months after that rehab and had a baby with a fellow recovering addict who had also been sober for less than a year.  Her child is 6 months old now, I guess I should say that my niece is 6 months old now.  By the time I met my SIL -- when she was 21   -- she'd already been to two rehabs.  

I kept seeing this documentary on the HBO docs list and I couldn't bring myself to watch it until today.  Arianna's story was the one that hit me hardest, for obvious reasons.  My SIL had a partner die, a guy who had -- quite frankly -- pimped her out.  He was found dead by a dumpster, where he had been living for some time.  He had a little makeshift bedside table of sorts next to his sleeping bag and on it was his sketch pad.  He'd been a promising artist, as had Laurie (that's my SIL)  and I'm glad his parents had that of him.  I've no idea what quality the drawings were or weren't.  I suppose I shouldn't think it a blessing that his parents got something back of their son that could help them remember fonder times.  

I don't think this epidemic is about entitled kids.  Although, I know my MIL enabled by paying for all those rehabs which Laurie was using as dry outs when she couldn't get a hold of drugs.  

I'm sorry for the epic overshare here but watching this was incredibly painful.  Just three days ago my husband told me he had to try and move past the point in which he had already grieved for Laurie.   She's the youngest in a family of 7 and at some point, somewhere around the 4th rehab we thought that we know where this story ends.  That she'd die.  We were just coming around to the "Thank goodness we were obviously wrong!"   

Watching this, watching Arianna, in particular, interact so lovingly with her children and then the chyron that she relapsed within a month of that and overdosed, after three years of sobriety nearly did me in.   I think I foolishly thought maybe Laurie was out of the woods, now she had someone to live for and be sober for, beyond any dumb guy.  

On 1/4/2016 at 11:52 AM, fastiller said:

2. While the addicts and their parents all insist they come from "good families," what does this mean?  Is there a history of addiction in the families?  Do they have any insight into why their children became addicts while most children on the Cape do not and most people prescribed opiates do not become addicted?

 

 

 

 

I'll answer that to the best of my ability.  In my husband's case, as it pertains to my SIL, her father was a defense contractor with high-security clearance.  Both of her parents were college educated.  Whereas her father traveled a lot, her mother stayed home and her entire life was about raising her children and she would tell them over and over, "I just want you to be the best you, you can be".  They were affluent without being spoiled, as in their college educations were paid for but they would do chores to be given access to the family car.  There was no car for the teen kids as they grew up.   Her parents were childhood sweethearts that would sit on a glider swing on a front porch when they were engaged, talking about the family they would have.  They wanted lots of kids and they wanted them to have every advantage.  

There isn't a history of addiciton in that family, but there is a history of OCD, depression, anxiety and in one case, bi-polar disorder.  I guess that's why self-medicating (which is a big factor in addicts who don't come from a family history of addiction or being prescribed their doom) is also so often a factor.  

I know that I sort of compulsively tell people that my husband came from a "good" family, an affluent family, an involved family.  They went to church every weekend.  If they had an academic interest it was indulged (lots of books, musical instruments, lessons, materials for painting, a coach for cross country running).   I mention it because people assume that my husband came from something that resembles the face of poverty, since he has one sister who was a heroin addict and another who has abused drugs throughout her life.  

I think when people say that, it's just a request to be viewed not as some kind of fringe, or borderline family.  They are asking people not to judge their families as having somehow brought it on themselves.   Or as having been too indulgent of their children.  Or not caring.  It's sort of way of saying, "this could happen to anyone, in any family, fate is fickle".  We want so much for there to be a cause, an easily identified cause because then we know the steps to take to prevent it.  I don't think it works that way.  I don't think there really is a way to ward it off.  

When I was growing up (I'll wheeze with antiquity as I type this, just to set the mood) we all got our wisdom teeth out.  To the best of my knowledge that really didn't go too far south for anyone other than one troubled kid.   Something is different.  I think it's probably the availability of drugs and just hopelessness.  

I'm glad the documentary solely focused on the addicts.  We are too prone to seeing them as something other than people.  Marissa's story was also so painful.  That was a self-aware young woman, but she couldn't save herself.   People are more than the worst thing they've ever done or been.  Sometimes those things are so awful we can't see past what they have done.  We hear the experts talks, the healthcare professionals, the words of those standing on the outside who judge, even though many don't even mean to.  

I appreciated this look into the actual people who are heroin addicts.

The most painful things my husband ever said to me about his sister, when we were just sure she would die was that I never felt like I knew Laurie as a person.  I'd had precisely one conversation with her when she was sober.  To me she was just this representation of chaos and damage, huritng people I love.  I even thought maybe it would be easier if she was gone because she couldn't be saved from herself.  I told my husband that I was sorry, I knew she was his baby sister always, that his mother would see Laurie and remember teaching her to walk but that all I ever think about, all I remember, is the agent of chaos.  And he said to me:  

"I always think of her as a child piano prodigy.  Her teacher was just convinced she'd be a great concert pianist. "

When people say, "from a good family" it's just shorthand for "we had dreams for this person, we saw a good life, we saw all things any hopeful, loving family member would, we didn't think this story would be like this. We love this person."  

I'm pretty sure that's what it means.  

Edited April 25, 2017 by stillshimpy

[formerlyfreedom]

52 minutes ago, stillshimpy said:

When people say, "from a good family" it's just shorthand for "we had dreams for this person, we saw a good life, we saw all things any hopeful, loving family member would, we didn't think this story would be like this. We love this person."  

I'm pretty sure that's what it means.  

Wow. And yes to your entire post, @stillshimpy. {{{hug}}}

[SunnyBeBe]

I'm a few years late, but, I just watched this film.  I've watched quite a few documentaries lately on drug addiction, including those addicted to Meth.  It's really disturbing.  It seems to me that since this film was made, heroin use has only gotten worse. 

In my state, there are so many deaths from overdoses that it's beyond scary.  Obits appear daily in my area of people in their teens and twenties. Some are now saying why in the obit.  Many are dying from overdoses.  

What I have noticed is how often the person is able to continue doing the heroin because they have a place to live, vehicle, and cash to buy the drugs, even if they don't have a job. It seems the path of recovery is just too illusive for most. 

As bleak as it is, I'm reminded that long term recovery is possible.  Long ago people like James Taylor, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Neil Young, and others were very addicted to heroin and expected to die from it. I often wonder how they have maintained long term sobriety.  

[Dancingjaneway]

Watching this doc is a waste of time. If they wanted me to feel bad for these addicts they didn't do their job. The only one I felt for was the girl hit by the drunk driver. Her pain(physical & mentally) is something I can understand wanting to numb. It's too bad that her settlement money wasn't kept somewhere safe or in some sort of CD so she couldn't touch it. The one kid in the motorcycle accident caused his own accident. When you slam into the back of someone you are either too close, going to fast or not paying attention. The rest of the kids are spoiled kids whose parents have tried to be their friend instead of a parent. The places these kids were living the ammenities they had were insane. The giant t.v., the cars, cell phones, jewelry etc. I know one girl admitted to stealing but I think most of the kids got that shit from their parents. Hearing that one woman say her husband was giving the son money for pot. Talk about stupid. The one thing that kept replaying in my mind was "they are lucky they aren't Black". The one girl who they had a warrent out on if she had been a Black girl they would have taken her in right then & there. The way she spoke to that nurse also would have gotten her cuffed. Most of the guys if they were Black would be doing hard time in jail. The girl that stole stuff? She wouldn't have been able to because they would have been up her ass while she was "shopping".  I also was super pissed when the one mother said her addict drove her there. If he isn't clean he shouldn't be driving! It was just a mess. These parents had their heads up their asses. What pisses me off too is the fact that there are people with chronic conditions & chronic, debilitating pain who need these drugs & this has made it SO much harder for them to obtain them. The prices are jacked too high and insurance won't cover them or they are questioned by the insurance as to wether they TRULY need them.