Studies have shown that children are being exposed to heroin at younger ages. In fact, children who are young as eight are now using heroin. Twelve is the average age that children are exposed to heroin. A child can get hooked on a drug even if he or she only uses it one time.
Ralph Taylor is the father of a drug addict. He stated that his son Matt was the perfect kid before he started using heroin. Matt made straight A 's in school and was a great football player. However, things changed after Matt started using heroin. He no longer cared about football, and his grades started slipping. He also become very violent.
Ralph stated that the problem started after Matt had surgery. He was prescribed pain medication. When the medication ran out, Matt 's friends introduced him to heroin. He has been hooked ever since. Matt has been an addict for 10 years.
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Ralph has spoken openly about the pain that he feels being the parent of a drug addict. He stated that once a person develops an addiction, they become the child that you do not want to know. Ralph is sharing his story to let parents know that if Matt can become an addict, then any kid can become an addict. It does not matter if they seem like perfect kids. Becoming an addict can change that.
Doctors have stated that children are more likely to become heroin addicts today than they were in the past. Dr. Venkata Jonnalagadda is the medical director at Eastpointe Managed Care Organization, which is located in Greenville. She has stated that 12 is what she considers early contact for drugs. She has also stated that she has seen patients as young as eight become addicted to heroin.
Dr. Jonnalaggada is working hard to combat this disturbing trend. She is worried about more children become addicted to heroin. They are making heroin faster and cheaper, which is why more children are getting access to it. Heroin today is also more pure than it was in the past. That makes it easier for someone to get addicted to