The Opioid Epidemic: Becoming Addicted

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MELISSA: I was 22 years old. And that's when everything started. I got pregnant with my youngest daughter. Once I had her, they gave me OxyContins. That was the pain medicine. From then on, that's where my addiction started.

DR. DEENI BASSAM: A friend offers you something at a party or at home, or you're having a bad day and you need something to pick you up so somebody hands you a pill and says, here, this will help you feel better. That's how this problem always starts.

MAN: I was at a concert and I was 15 at the time. And I was drinking a beer. So I got a possession of alcohol charge. And I got put on probation, so I couldn't smoke pot anymore. So I started to panic. And then somebody approached me and said, well here, try this. And it was a OxyContin 80.

KATRINA: So I was hobbling into work and the young lady that worked there used to be a pharmaceutical sales rep. And she had some samples of things. And she said, Katrina, have you gone to the doctor for this yet? And I said no. So she said, well, I have these things. Take one. Not more than that. Go home and take one. And I had to have it every night when I'd go home and have a glass of wine. So I went home that night and I took what she gave me. But instead of taking one, I took two. Because I didn't even know what they were. And took the two, had my glass of wine. And all of a sudden, it just triggered something in my brain and I would say I became addicted that day.

WOMAN: I think the new friends had a really, really big impact on—when she got to that fork in the road, you go left or you go right. And I think at that point, the friends helped pick the road that she chose. This sounds really appealing. I'm going to try that. But I guess what most people and most kids don't understand is when you try something, you're not trying it. It's your new path.

MAN 2: I just like the feeling of certain things, being high. It wasn't like, I'm am depressed and I'm going to take this and make me feel better. It was kind of like, I'm feeling good. I'm going to try this to see if I can feel even more better.

WOMAN 2: I started taking three at a time, and then I was taking four at a time, and then I started taking six at a time. And then I went from taking them orally to shooting them. And that was the end.

MAN 2: The drugs—I feel like I took my mind over and made me do things that I normally brought up not to do. And it just turned me into a monster.

MAN: I just went in my medicine, and my buddy's like, oh, hey, these will get you high. Let's do some. So I was like, OK. Yeah. You talked me into it. They're right here, I don't have to pay anything. Sure. It doesn't even have to be a drug dealer. It could be right in your house. And the next thing you know, you're hooked.

WOMAN 2: My friends in the beginning were the friends that didn't do anything. And then I met the crowd that did do stuff. You are who you hang out with. That is for sure.

WOMAN: These kids go into it as, I'm just going to go to a party, and hey, they're doing this over here. Let me—I want to fit in. Let me do it a little bit. And it's the devil. It gets you. It's that temptation. Hey, this is a fun party over here. Mm mm. It will suck the life out of you.

KATRINA: All I wanted to do, if it had been in front of my face, is do it. It's not just a little pill. Respect the power of that. Of that pill. Just because it's a prescription, it is every bit as deadly and every bit as addictive.

MELISSA: I worked at a day care, taking care of other people's kids. I drove the day care bus. I had to take their children to school. But before I could drive their kids to school, I was in the bathroom of the daycare, crushing up pills, snorting them. So I could go about my day.

WOMAN 3: The whole time you're sitting there saying you're not a [MUTED] addict, you're not addicted, guess what? You [MUTED] are. Because why are you taking that hit, saying, no, dude. I can quit when I want. You're addicted. So you're like, oh, I only smoke weed. I'm not addicted. It's natural. [MUTED] whatever. Tell yourself, whatever. Oh, it's legal now. Oh, [MUTED] off. Whatever.

DR. DEENI BASSAM: First time somebody uses an opiate drug, the euphoria that they get is something that they continue to search for and seek for. So while you could do that in the beginning by just chewing on the drug, over time, you can't get that high anymore. And so now you have to take it up to the next level. And nobody sets out thinking that they're going to end up being a needle user. But every one of those needle users will tell you that they couldn't get the high anymore doing it the way they were doing.

Chemically and physiologically speaking, there's very little difference between oxycodone, morphine, and heroin. It's just that one comes in a prescription bottle and another one comes in a plastic bag.

MAN: In the beginning, I would always try and get pills because you know what you're getting. You know it's always going to be the same thing. And then eventually, that just got too expensive. So then you go for heroin, because it's cheaper. But you take that risk of getting really good stuff and overdosing or getting fake stuff or just stuff that isn't good enough to even get you well.

MAN 2: A lot of my friends were trying heroin to get the same high from the OxyContin. And it was cheaper. And so of course I got into it. And it just grabbed me. Just grabbed me.

MELISSA: Heroin became my best friend. Heroin became the love of my life. I put heroin before my family. I put heroin before my children. And I thought that I couldn't do nothing in life anymore without heroin.

KATRINA: There's absolutely no difference between, in my mind, a heroin addict and a pill addict. We both will do anything to get it. Break the law, do whatever. You're both addicted. You both go through the withdrawals. You both go—it's the exact same thing.

WOMAN 3: It's everywhere. It's in your [MUTED] cabinet somewhere. It could be in your grandparents' cabinet, could be your friend's mom's cabinet. It could be anywhere. That's pills. But heroin can be in a drawer somewhere. Who knows? It's all the same [MUTED]. One's just prescribed to you and one you [MUTED] go cop on the street.

WOMAN 4: There's no way to say no with the opiates. It's hard. Real hard. I can tell myself, no, no, no. But my body—as soon as you think about it, you get anxiety, your palms start to sweat. Your mental ignores your physical part of it.

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