See Their Stories
Real Ohioans, Real Perspectives
Anonymous (Canton, OH)
I have done almost all those so-called “alternatives” to pain medicine – physical therapy, 13 steroid injections, surgery and nerve ablation. Eight years after injuring my back while moving a patient when I was an x-ray tech, I still need tramadol to get through the day.
Anonymous (Delaware, OH)
My relationship with unrelenting pain first dates back to a 1993 accident, when I was just 16. The vehicle was not recognizable, but it left me with a fractured spine and pelvis, among other injuries. The paralysis was temporary, but I had a long, painful recovery ahead.
Cathy Haycox (Marion, OH)
I lost my only daughter to a heroin overdose November 2,2016. She left behind 7 children including a 2 month old daughter. She had been in recovery for almost a year through Marion Area Counseling. She was on medical assisted opioid shot but had to stop when became pregnant. She did very well until she had her daughter and was suffering from post-partum depression. She had to wait 3 weeks to get into see the doctor at Marion Area Counseling to start back up on the shot. She died over an overdose 2 days before her appointment.
Ken Houghtaling (Wilmington, OH)
I have been the Intervention in Lieu of Conviction Officer for the Clinton County Common Pleas for over 5 years. I accepted this position after retiring from a 36 year aviation career. I had my own issues (alcoholism) – and had been a defendant for OVI and Reckless driving with the Judge that I work for.
Jessica Fluharty (Marion, OH)
I developed an eating disorder when I was 13 and suffered with drugs and alcohol abuse until I went into recovery in July 20, 2013. I married a man who is an addict. Together we had two beautiful girls. The relationship was toxic and abusive. I don’t know where he is now and am partially very glad. My girls are finally happy and so am I.
Mykal Riffle (Perry, OH)
My younger son and wife were addicts for a couple of years, taking suboxone to deal with their opioid addiction. Unfortunately, suboxone is not a great alternative to getting clean, and unless a doctor properly administers (weans off) and oversees the process, suboxone becomes the new addicting drug that can be abused.
Jody Morgan (Hillard, OH)
I am a mom of a freshman at OSU Newark, a person in recovery and I work in the Opiate recovery field. I am seeing more and more families who are affected, teachers who are uneducated and a community divided and filled with stigma. This epidemic is unlike anything I have seen both from a personal and professional standpoint.
Anonymous (Beavercreek, OH)
I work in an emergency room. I have seen parents and addicts beg and plea for help and they did not get it. Instead the addict or their loved one was discharged to go out and use again. Only to come back again overdosed or dead. it gets harder and harder to see this happen every day. We are a hospital and are supposed to help people and we are NOT DOING IT.
Christel Brooks (Chevoit, OH)
I started the organization Cincinnati Against Heroin a couple of years ago to try and help people get pointed in the right direction to get clean & save their lives. Heroin addiction is a personal issue to me because I was an addict for over 20 years and by the grace of God, I have now been clean for 14 years this April 17th, I have also lost a lot of people I loved & cared about, including family to this addiction.
Debra Hanby (Dayton, OH)
On June 30, 2017 I flew to Cape Coral, FL to help our son set up his first apartment after leaving sober living with 6 months clean time. I found him dead in his apartment, after a 3-year battle with heroin addiction, the disease won. The autopsy showed cause of death as a Fentynal overdose.
Breanna Mays (Springfield, OH)
It is damaging families and homes. There have been dozens of overdoses in the past two years. It has also affected businesses and restaurants because most of the employees are addicted to heroin/narcotics.
Megan Taylor (Carlisle, OH)
It affected me for 8 years. I was an addict. I got sober April 27,2017. But my family got affected by it in a lot of ways. They went through my addiction with me. But it affects all of me every day going around and see how our community is so wrapped up in getting their next fix. Its honestly sad I am trying to better myself for me and my family. I went through treatment when I was pregnant with my little girl.
Anonymous (Milford, OH)
A very good friend of mine is a heroin addict. They have a felony warrant for failure to appear for possession. If this person is picked up on that warrant they’ll receive at least a year long prison sentence. Putting addicts in prison is not the answer. Take that possible jail sentence away and put them in a mandatory program.
Kim Bailey
My son overdosed and died in May of 2017. Drug programs need to let families be more involved with their loved ones, I was always told they couldn’t tell me anything because my son was an adult, I felt so frustrated by that, how could I help him. One counselor told me to put him out on street. I wanted my son to know someone cared about him. I don’t believe in tough love. My son also suffered from depression, there needs to be a focus on mental illness.
Anonymous (Middletown, OH)
In 2001 my husband and I were in a car accident which resulted in me having 2 ruptured discs in my neck. I had to have two major neck surgeries and began taking pain medication; I was on just about everything that you can think of. I was on methadone for 12 years from a pain clinic, and I became addicted to it. I had to have more and more of the pills, until it became a vicious cycle.
Anonymous (Middletown, OH)
I am in long term recovery from sexual abuse, depression, attempted suicide (which left me in a coma for 13 days), and IV meth addiction. Yet I was not exempt from heroin. On February 22nd, 2010, an individual swapped out my meth and injected me with heroin and nearly died. The near-death experience led me onto the path of recovery. Today, I am the founder of Celebrating Restoration.
Randy Langham (Canfield, OH)
I lived in downtown Syracuse, NY for 8 years (4 blocks from city hall). All my neighbors had drug, prostitution, mental illness, etc. problems. Many in the church where I was a member were recovering from those former lifestyles. I live in Canfield now and I am a high school coach. I know teens in Canfield with serious issues. In other words, no community is exempt from problems. I am also a chaplain at the Mahoning County jail. I spend an average of 4 to 6 hours there every week talking to inmates, mostly those who are there for causes related to drugs or alcohol.
Anonymous
Treatment with random testing, then step down to a halfway house for a minimum of one year. All clients must get jobs so that they can transition back into society. Reporting probation for 5 years with random drug testing paid by the client. Three failed drug screens, then prison.
Frank Elling (Youngstown, OH)
I’ve spent the last ten years in Youngstown’s Southside observing by unpaid self directing work. The detailed analyzing of local street level drug, prostitution and theft activity. I’ve taken over one hundred thousand pictures to determine criminal association methods, criminal migrations in and out of area and those deeply seated families, groups, and individuals of the criminal cult players.
Anonymous
Patients have been cut off of much needed pain-relieving short-acting opioids (less harmful with less side effects of many meds–and not as expensive as most–marijuana is being pushed for relief of pain and patients will have to buy a special card and Medicare and medicaid will not cover expenses of this new med which I doubt can be as effective as an opioid).
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