Really? Elephant tranquilizer?!
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Wilmington, DE
Posts: 393
Really? Elephant tranquilizer?!
The ability of the drug cartels and traffickers to come up with ever more potent and deadly substances will never cease to amaze me.
First it was fentanyl laced heroin...........hundreds died.......now carfentanil - 10,000 times more potent than morphine; 2 milligrams needed to knock out a 2,000 pound elephant. Another import brought to you from China via Mexico.
Heroin laced with elephant tranquilizer hits the streets | WMDT.com Maryland-Delaware
Do the math - 2 mg / 2,000 lbs, scale that downward to the size of my daughter when she was actively actively using heroin - 100 pounds.
2 mg / 2000 lbs = 1/10 mg / 100 lbs. Considering this stuff can be inhaled or absorbed directly through the skin.....one could get a large enough dose to die just by being in the same room!
For those who have trouble relating to small quantities, perhaps this example will help put it in perspective:
A regular sized paper clip (not the jumbo big ones, or the little tiny ones) weighs very close to 1 gram.
If you could cut that paper clip into 1000 pieces, each piece would weigh 1/1000 gram which is known as "1 milligram".
Now you would need to cut one of your 1000 pieces into 10 pieces - each one of those pieces would weigh 1/10 milligram , the amount needed to knock out a 100 pound human! Surely far less than 1 milligram would kill the user. Pray for the addicts.
One day at a time,
Jim
First it was fentanyl laced heroin...........hundreds died.......now carfentanil - 10,000 times more potent than morphine; 2 milligrams needed to knock out a 2,000 pound elephant. Another import brought to you from China via Mexico.
Heroin laced with elephant tranquilizer hits the streets | WMDT.com Maryland-Delaware
Do the math - 2 mg / 2,000 lbs, scale that downward to the size of my daughter when she was actively actively using heroin - 100 pounds.
2 mg / 2000 lbs = 1/10 mg / 100 lbs. Considering this stuff can be inhaled or absorbed directly through the skin.....one could get a large enough dose to die just by being in the same room!
For those who have trouble relating to small quantities, perhaps this example will help put it in perspective:
A regular sized paper clip (not the jumbo big ones, or the little tiny ones) weighs very close to 1 gram.
If you could cut that paper clip into 1000 pieces, each piece would weigh 1/1000 gram which is known as "1 milligram".
Now you would need to cut one of your 1000 pieces into 10 pieces - each one of those pieces would weigh 1/10 milligram , the amount needed to knock out a 100 pound human! Surely far less than 1 milligram would kill the user. Pray for the addicts.
One day at a time,
Jim
Member
Join Date: May 2016
Location: NYC area
Posts: 856
It's such an epidemic. I'm thankful that where I live the courts do recognize this as an illness. When my son got in trouble, he wanted to go to rehab. The attorney said it was fine - detox and rehab - and he fixed it with the court that son was missing his appearance date because he was getting medical help. The court was actually supportive of that decision. I think there needs to be more education in the schools. My son was a great kid (is a great man now). He was an honor roll student, was easily accepted into college, played in a band, had lots of friends.... but one thing led to another, and he found himself with a full blown addiction and was ashamed and overwhelmed and didn't know what to do or how to get back to normal. "People like us" didn't ever think "this" could happen to our son. It never occurred to this that this is a "suburban" problem. We were so stupid. I wish there were better programs to educate the parents, teachers and students, because this can happen to anyone!
Member
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: America
Posts: 4,136
I suppose I could have ended up as the heroin addict in the family, but my sister did instead. Why? She was always into fitness, health, eating right, looking good. Why her? Why then? She had so many things going RIGHT for her! Why would she use a substance like heroin? She was gorgeous; had the body of a tall long-legged swimsuit model. She had her own look: very sexy. She could probably get any man she set her cap for. She was married to an equally attractive and very accomplished man. But none of us thought their marriage would end like it did! Looking back however, I suppose we should have seen it coming and many times I have wondered if I should have "done more" to reach out to her during the break-down of her marria; e...BUT: I was so 'busy' with my own life and stuff and being a mom, wife and having a demanding career, paying the bills, tending to the house, cooking, cleaning, exercising, just busy!
I had NO IDEA she was into heroin until after the marriage was ended and they waiting for the divorce to finalized. Their divorce lawyers seemed to dragging it out and it was very ugly. Very ugly. Well, sometimes I wish she would have reached out to me a little more and asked for help. But-she didn't. I did have feeling she was battling with depression. I KNEW she had an eating disorder that started when she was a teenager. Looking back, I sometimes wonder if she turned to heroin to manage her weight and stay skinny. We know that is why some "soccer moms" turn to meth/speed....Super Mom has to be thin, you know? (sarcasm there)....
Anyways, one day during this dark time in her life, I had a bad feeling about her. I get these bad feelings sometimes I don't always know what to do with them....but it's a feeling that something is going down and it could be bad...so I called her and got no answer. She usually answered my calls, so her not answering made me feel even more worried. I decided to go to her house and check up on her in person.
I pulled up in the driveway and her car was there so I thought she must be home. I didn't knock on the door because we didn't do that; we knew we could just walk in and say hey to announce our visit. The door was unlocked so I opened it and called out. No answer. I walked into the house and immediately felt that something was wrong. I walked around the first floor and called out again...but no sister and no answer....so I went up stairs and started to look around....
I went into her bedroom and finally found her, but when I did I thought she was dead. She looked so pale and ashen and unconcious....As I got closer to her and looked her over more closely I then saw that she was breathing, but her respirations were not normal; very shallow and slow....I also saw the syringe and needle laying next to her arm...I called 911 and told them I thought she had OD'd on heroin....long story short, even though it seemed like it took forever for them to get there...the paramedics administered Narcan without much delay and she was revived....she was taken to the hospital and further stabilized...at first she said she didn't know what happened...but the TRUTH of her heroin addiction did come out and she could not deny it any longer....she had been hiding it pretty well from most of her friends and family....now I KNEW...so what was I going to do about it?
We were able to have a very honest, open discussion about it and she admitted to me that the reason she turned to heroin was that she was first introduced to it at a party and discovered she liked the opiate high....it was a high like none other....it was better then booze because booze had too many calories and was bad for your stomach....it was better than cocaine, which she had often used in the past when she could afford it...she didn't like snorting....
She admitted that she had been depressed and stressed and had felt bad about herself ever since she was a child....she said she felt she was an UGLY DUCKLING and even though she grew into a beautiful swan she never shed the ugly duckling feelings and the low self esteem...she said she felt like she wasn't "good" at anything beside having a thin body and being sexy and attracting men....she said she felt her marriage ending was really her fault and her soon to be ex was going to destroy her....she felt she could not be honest and open with her family because they be so disappointed in her they would cut her off, condemn her and have nothing more to do with her....she felt she knew EXACTLY how much heroin she could shoot without od'ing but still get a good high...
All these things, all these issues...came to the fore....and she felt the only thing she still had to live for were her children....BUT-she also felt like she was a bad mother....I realized that she was much more low, much more down than I had ever anticipated!! What could I do - who could I talk to? I didn't want to just tell anyone about this because she had confided in me and I knew the truth of what she had CAREFULLY hidden for so long....my beautiful sister! A heroin addict! How could this be?
I must admit that at first I was in denial too.....
I had NO IDEA she was into heroin until after the marriage was ended and they waiting for the divorce to finalized. Their divorce lawyers seemed to dragging it out and it was very ugly. Very ugly. Well, sometimes I wish she would have reached out to me a little more and asked for help. But-she didn't. I did have feeling she was battling with depression. I KNEW she had an eating disorder that started when she was a teenager. Looking back, I sometimes wonder if she turned to heroin to manage her weight and stay skinny. We know that is why some "soccer moms" turn to meth/speed....Super Mom has to be thin, you know? (sarcasm there)....
Anyways, one day during this dark time in her life, I had a bad feeling about her. I get these bad feelings sometimes I don't always know what to do with them....but it's a feeling that something is going down and it could be bad...so I called her and got no answer. She usually answered my calls, so her not answering made me feel even more worried. I decided to go to her house and check up on her in person.
I pulled up in the driveway and her car was there so I thought she must be home. I didn't knock on the door because we didn't do that; we knew we could just walk in and say hey to announce our visit. The door was unlocked so I opened it and called out. No answer. I walked into the house and immediately felt that something was wrong. I walked around the first floor and called out again...but no sister and no answer....so I went up stairs and started to look around....
I went into her bedroom and finally found her, but when I did I thought she was dead. She looked so pale and ashen and unconcious....As I got closer to her and looked her over more closely I then saw that she was breathing, but her respirations were not normal; very shallow and slow....I also saw the syringe and needle laying next to her arm...I called 911 and told them I thought she had OD'd on heroin....long story short, even though it seemed like it took forever for them to get there...the paramedics administered Narcan without much delay and she was revived....she was taken to the hospital and further stabilized...at first she said she didn't know what happened...but the TRUTH of her heroin addiction did come out and she could not deny it any longer....she had been hiding it pretty well from most of her friends and family....now I KNEW...so what was I going to do about it?
We were able to have a very honest, open discussion about it and she admitted to me that the reason she turned to heroin was that she was first introduced to it at a party and discovered she liked the opiate high....it was a high like none other....it was better then booze because booze had too many calories and was bad for your stomach....it was better than cocaine, which she had often used in the past when she could afford it...she didn't like snorting....
She admitted that she had been depressed and stressed and had felt bad about herself ever since she was a child....she said she felt she was an UGLY DUCKLING and even though she grew into a beautiful swan she never shed the ugly duckling feelings and the low self esteem...she said she felt like she wasn't "good" at anything beside having a thin body and being sexy and attracting men....she said she felt her marriage ending was really her fault and her soon to be ex was going to destroy her....she felt she could not be honest and open with her family because they be so disappointed in her they would cut her off, condemn her and have nothing more to do with her....she felt she knew EXACTLY how much heroin she could shoot without od'ing but still get a good high...
All these things, all these issues...came to the fore....and she felt the only thing she still had to live for were her children....BUT-she also felt like she was a bad mother....I realized that she was much more low, much more down than I had ever anticipated!! What could I do - who could I talk to? I didn't want to just tell anyone about this because she had confided in me and I knew the truth of what she had CAREFULLY hidden for so long....my beautiful sister! A heroin addict! How could this be?
I must admit that at first I was in denial too.....
Nature Girl
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: By The Lake
Posts: 60,328
Teatreeoil, thank you for sharing that poignant story, how lucky for your sister that you got there on time.
I too had to call 911 for my overdosed son, it's scary to see someone we love so close to death.
Education, talking to adults as well as children, is so important. As teatreeoil said, addiction knows no boundaries.
I too had to call 911 for my overdosed son, it's scary to see someone we love so close to death.
Education, talking to adults as well as children, is so important. As teatreeoil said, addiction knows no boundaries.
Member
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: WI
Posts: 1,426
Dear Mommas,
I too am in that "call 911 club". My daughters never feared "Herion" they feared NOT having it. They are sober now, one with Suboxone the other was able to stop with the tools she learned in a few rehabs and IOP....but ya know what??? I still carry Narcan and a syringe with me at all times...just the fear of a relaspe lurking and that addictive voice talking in their minds. I hate this disease.
TF
I too am in that "call 911 club". My daughters never feared "Herion" they feared NOT having it. They are sober now, one with Suboxone the other was able to stop with the tools she learned in a few rehabs and IOP....but ya know what??? I still carry Narcan and a syringe with me at all times...just the fear of a relaspe lurking and that addictive voice talking in their minds. I hate this disease.
TF
Member
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: America
Posts: 4,136
Thank you Ann.
TwoFish: Glad your daughters are in recovery. I have heard one of the most vulnerable times for a heroin OD is after a period of clean time....when someone relapses...and they think they can take the same amount they always took before. Two of my son's friends from church (sisters) lost their mother recently to a relapse/OD. She had some clean time after battling with addiction for years and being homeless...had finally got into treatment/rehab. Things were looking up; hope was renewed.... She got out, used, OD'd, died. These poor girls were essentially raised by their Dad because of their mom's addiction problems.
TwoFish: Glad your daughters are in recovery. I have heard one of the most vulnerable times for a heroin OD is after a period of clean time....when someone relapses...and they think they can take the same amount they always took before. Two of my son's friends from church (sisters) lost their mother recently to a relapse/OD. She had some clean time after battling with addiction for years and being homeless...had finally got into treatment/rehab. Things were looking up; hope was renewed.... She got out, used, OD'd, died. These poor girls were essentially raised by their Dad because of their mom's addiction problems.
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Wilmington, DE
Posts: 393
Twofish,
"I hate this disease."
My Nar-Anon group has a saying, we all "hate the disease and love the addicts".
On the topic of Narcan, due to an exceptionally generous donation from one of the manufacturers - all of the County Police officers carry Narcan as do many local police departments statewide, plus all of the EMT's and ambulance crews in the State.
There is a program administered by one of the IOP / methadone / Suboxone clinics which trains and issues Narcan to individuals - some addicts and some family members of addicts. It is saving lives almost every day in this county.
This being an election year, some of the candidates are at least paying lip service to improving early education / rehab resources and the like ---- we'll see how it all pans out after the elections are over.
One day at a time,
Jim
PS: I have been reading the NA Basic Text which I find very informative and insightful as to the thinking processes of addicts who have clawed their way back from the edge and are now in long term recovery. I found a real gem yesterday on page 290: "I slowly came to realize that fellowship is toxic to addiction, and that isolation is a prerequisite for relapse."
"I hate this disease."
My Nar-Anon group has a saying, we all "hate the disease and love the addicts".
On the topic of Narcan, due to an exceptionally generous donation from one of the manufacturers - all of the County Police officers carry Narcan as do many local police departments statewide, plus all of the EMT's and ambulance crews in the State.
There is a program administered by one of the IOP / methadone / Suboxone clinics which trains and issues Narcan to individuals - some addicts and some family members of addicts. It is saving lives almost every day in this county.
This being an election year, some of the candidates are at least paying lip service to improving early education / rehab resources and the like ---- we'll see how it all pans out after the elections are over.
One day at a time,
Jim
PS: I have been reading the NA Basic Text which I find very informative and insightful as to the thinking processes of addicts who have clawed their way back from the edge and are now in long term recovery. I found a real gem yesterday on page 290: "I slowly came to realize that fellowship is toxic to addiction, and that isolation is a prerequisite for relapse."
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Wilmington, DE
Posts: 393
Teatreeoil,
".......when someone relapses...and they think they can take the same amount they always took before."....
When my daughter, K, was in her first rehab, she followed her personality and became "the welcome wagon", befriending every newcomer if they would have her.
K was about 2-1/2 weeks into her 28 day program and along came H, a 19 year old heroin addict. Slim, pretty with beautiful and piercing blue eyes.
K and H became instant friends: K took her under her wing and helped her any way she could.
H had a very different story from K, she had lived on her own for a few years and had supported her habit by stripping in various clubs.
K's time at the rehab was over and she had to leave H behind with H only having been in the rehab for about 1-1/2 weeks. Most of K's group who had all befriended H were leaving within a few days of each other - this left H in a lonely state. H gave K a handwritten letter before K left, I have always been curious as to what it said but have never asked.
About one week after K left, H walked out of the rehab AMA. Two weeks later H was found dead of an overdose. So young, so fragile, what a waste.
Keep coming back,
Jim
".......when someone relapses...and they think they can take the same amount they always took before."....
When my daughter, K, was in her first rehab, she followed her personality and became "the welcome wagon", befriending every newcomer if they would have her.
K was about 2-1/2 weeks into her 28 day program and along came H, a 19 year old heroin addict. Slim, pretty with beautiful and piercing blue eyes.
K and H became instant friends: K took her under her wing and helped her any way she could.
H had a very different story from K, she had lived on her own for a few years and had supported her habit by stripping in various clubs.
K's time at the rehab was over and she had to leave H behind with H only having been in the rehab for about 1-1/2 weeks. Most of K's group who had all befriended H were leaving within a few days of each other - this left H in a lonely state. H gave K a handwritten letter before K left, I have always been curious as to what it said but have never asked.
About one week after K left, H walked out of the rehab AMA. Two weeks later H was found dead of an overdose. So young, so fragile, what a waste.
Keep coming back,
Jim
Member
Join Date: May 2016
Location: NYC area
Posts: 856
Originally Posted by JimC60 
I have been reading the NA Basic Text which I find very informative and insightful as to the thinking processes of addicts who have clawed their way back from the edge and are now in long term recovery. I found a real gem yesterday on page 290: "I slowly came to realize that fellowship is toxic to addiction, and that isolation is a prerequisite for relapse."
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Wilmington, DE
Posts: 393
JennaRoseMadre,
All of the NA members will refer to this book as "The Basic Text", however, the book does not say "Basic Text" anywhere on the cover.
The cover is royal blue and just says "Narcotics Anonymous" at the bottom edge with the NA logo and a straight bar at the top of the cover.
The back cover reads: "Many books have been written about the nature of addiction. This book primarily concerns itself with the nature of recovery. If you are an addict and have found this book, please give yourself a break and read it!"
It has an ISBN ID number of 978-1-55776-735-6 -- I think any book store would be able to order it for you with that number (ISBN = International Standard Book Number) or..............
attend any "open" NA meeting and purchase one at the the meeting - bring cash as checks and credit cards will not be accepted. This is probably the fastest way to get one!
or Narcotics Anonymous - 818-773-9999 or NA
The 6th edition is the most current.
Hope you find one!
Keep coming back,
Jim
All of the NA members will refer to this book as "The Basic Text", however, the book does not say "Basic Text" anywhere on the cover.
The cover is royal blue and just says "Narcotics Anonymous" at the bottom edge with the NA logo and a straight bar at the top of the cover.
The back cover reads: "Many books have been written about the nature of addiction. This book primarily concerns itself with the nature of recovery. If you are an addict and have found this book, please give yourself a break and read it!"
It has an ISBN ID number of 978-1-55776-735-6 -- I think any book store would be able to order it for you with that number (ISBN = International Standard Book Number) or..............
attend any "open" NA meeting and purchase one at the the meeting - bring cash as checks and credit cards will not be accepted. This is probably the fastest way to get one!
or Narcotics Anonymous - 818-773-9999 or NA
The 6th edition is the most current.
Hope you find one!
Keep coming back,
Jim
Member
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: America
Posts: 4,136
I really do believe that in the case of my sister, her primary addiction was her eating disorder. And her eating disorder was about acheiving and maintaining this body type that she discovered brought her the love and attention and "feel good" she had been craving since childhood. She discovered something in adolescence that helped her "feel better" about herself. She got a certain type of 'reward' for being skinny and attractive. She got a type of high for being attractive to the opposite sex. She learned to be seductive as a way to feel good about herself and it was sort of sickly reinforced by some of her role models. But that left a gaping hole in her life as that was the primary thing that made her feel good about herself. I believe the heroin was introduced to her at a time in her life when she was ripe and ready for what felt like a 'new found friend'. She was feeling really bad about her crumbling marriage, lost, unstable, not sure of her future. An ironic thing is that she was seeing a psych at that time for her eating disorder...I am happy to say today she has been clean for over 10 years and has also gotten victory over her eating disorder. She is a good mother and wife and her kids have turned out well.
Currently Active Users Viewing this Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
