User login
Browse archives
| Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | |||||
| 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
| 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 |
| 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| 31 |
Who's online
Syndicate
Parents plead for focus on OxyContin...
ictures Scotch-taped to the back of a pizza box lid told two stories of Pat Medeiros' son.
The lone photo in the center told a good story: one of 20-year-old man who looked aware and lucid. But the four surrounding it stood in stark contrast. In those, his mouth was slightly agape and his eyes were closed, even though he appeared to be standing.
Before a crowd of city councilors, School Committee members and city officials, Medeiros talked about her son last Thursday night. For the past three years, he's been addicted to heroin. Last month, he committed a robbery and ended up in prison. Despite being "very, very sick," Medeiros said drug treatment wasn't offered.
When confronted with an addict's life, Medeiros, who has already lost one son to drugs, said sometimes "all you can do is pray."
"I love my son," she said. "But I don't know how to help my son."
Opiate-related drug overdoses and deaths in Cambridge have been rising over the past 10 years, according to the Department of Public Health. Between 2001 and 2003, state numbers show an average of seven opiate-related deaths per year.
While heroin remains the most common, and least expensive, opiate, officials here are increasingly becoming more and more concerned about OxyContin abuse in the city, especially among teenagers.
Because OxyContin, a prescription painkiller, can cost up to $80 for one pill, addicts who can't afford it are turning to heroin, which has sold in Cambridge for as little as $3 a bag.
"People are moving from prescription drugs to a higher level of more illicit, more dangerous drugs," said Mayor Michael Sullivan, who called the meeting.
Neighboring communities such as Somerville and Charlestown have received much attention for their community's problems with OxyContin. Several Somerville residents have died from OxyContin overdoses, and two high school hockey players who were addicted to the drug committed suicide last year.
© Copyright of CNC and Herald Interactive Advertising Systems, Inc.
This is cache, read story here