Pledging and illicit drugs

[sissyintexas]

To the poster above who said Texas A&M is not a "hard drug campus." EVERY campus is a hard drug campus - especially where we are talking tens of thousands of students. Opiate/Opioid use is an epidemic among high school age and college kids. It starts with oxycodone and codeine and when that no longer gets the result they are looking for they move on to heroin.

It is not just a "street drug" anymore. I live in a fairly affluent area and without thinking I can name 6 kids who have died from heroin overdoses in the past 3 years. Where there is money, there will be drugs.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by sissyintexas

To the poster above who said Texas A&M is not a "hard drug campus." EVERY campus is a hard drug campus - especially where we are talking tens of thousands of students. Opiate/Opioid use is an epidemic among high school age and college kids. It starts with oxycodone and codeine and when that no longer gets the result they are looking for they move on to heroin.

It is not just a "street drug" anymore. I live in a fairly affluent area and without thinking I can name 6 kids who have died from heroin overdoses in the past 3 years. Where there is money, there will be drugs.

Very true.

I am currently attending a huge insurance conference and there was a presentation about workers comp and drug use. According to the CDC, deaths from opioid pain killer overdoses now top deaths from heroin and cocaine combined.

The thought, "At least it's not heroin" doesn't even apply. All of these drugs are a concern.

[jenidallas]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

Very true.

I am currently attending a huge insurance conference and there was a presentation about workers comp and drug use. According to the CDC, deaths from opioid pain killer overdoses now top deaths from heroin and cocaine combined.

The thought, "At least it's not heroin" doesn't even apply. All of these drugs are a concern.

And then there is the wave of middle class professionals who are turning to heroin because it has become easier to obtain than opioid pain drugs due to changes in prescribing laws. Chronic pain control is a health care gap in many communities across the US and many health care systems don't have the resources to deal with these patients outside the inpatient setting. As a result, many are self-medicating, often with disastrous results.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by sissyintexas

EVERY campus is a hard drug campus - especially where we are talking tens of thousands of students.

Yes. At my Ivy League undergrad, I could have told you how to get any of the "hard drugs," and I didn't do anything harder than alcohol. This was back in the early aughts, when most people my age were scared off of heroin because of Kurt Cobain.