Heroin addict’s rock bottom caught on video

I wanted to share this CNN video because it's so sadly relatable to what New Jersey is going through. A man and his wife are found near death on a street from heroin overdoses. Someone stops to record them instead of calling for help. As cold as this act was, it could be what saved the man's life. This video went viral, and got a lot of attention. So much attention he was offered free rehab. Seeing the video of himself so near death was his rock bottom. I imagine seeing yourself in that state would be like an out of body experience. He finally decided he didn't want to die this way and he took the offer of help after 24 years of heroin addiction.

Heroin is everywhere in the Garden State. It's in all 21 counties and virtually all towns. More white people are dying per capita than blacks or Hispanics. It's everybody. Everywhere. In 2012, 591 people died from heroin. By 2013 741 more. In 2014 781 people died overdosing. Almost half of the 64,766 people who entered treatment programs in 2014 listed heroin or another opiate as their primary drug. Perhaps one of the scariest statistics of all comes from the 2013 New Jersey Student Health Survey. It shows 2% of high school students had used heroin.

Users are in desperate need of help. If there's anyone left who still judges heroin users, you should be reminded of how many times you've started a diet only to fail and go back to the chips. Or perhaps how many times you've sworn to yourself you would quit smoking and never did. I hope our society is well past that point of not caring about these people. Even if you don't realize it, you already know someone who is struggling with heroin.

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