Addiction ruins lives. Those of the addicted, as well as those of their loved ones. Fortunately, however difficult life might get, there are people out there who care about us and do their darndest to help us in our hour of need.
Jennifer Salfen-Tracy turned to Facebook to share with everyone how her oldest son Cody Bishop, who is suffering from heroin and meth addiction, is doing. According to his mom, Cody is homeless and she hasn’t heard from him in weeks. The photos she shared of him are shocking, especially when you realize that they’re only 7 months apart.
A desperate mother shared photos of her son Cody...
...who has completely changed in 7 months due to heroin and meth use
Cody's mom wants her son to come back home and get clean
Cody’s mom, who is from Missouri, hopes that her son will return home and get his life sorted out because of the major negative impact that drugs have had on his life, health, and outlook on life.
Salfen-Tracy also drew attention to the fact that this sort of addiction is far from rare; it affects more people than you’d expect. Heroin, which is an opioid, is part of a larger problem of addiction in America and elsewhere.
In the United States, addiction— of all types — is widespread. Addiction Center highlights that 21 million Americans “have at least one addiction,” however, only a tenth of them receive treatment. The Center also notes that out of those, 2.1 million have an opioid use disorder and almost half a million Americans are regular heroin users.
Over 700,000 US citizens have died from overdosing on a drug (any drug) from 1999 to 2017. Drug and alcohol addiction is a heavy weight on the US economy: it costs the country more than 600 billion dollars each and every year.
What’s more, around a fifth of Americans who have “depression or an anxiety disorder also have a substance use disorder,” according to Addiction Center.
Around 130 US citizens die daily from opioid overdose. Since 2017, 15,000 Americans have lost their lives because they overdosed on heroin.
An astoundingly large number of people in the US have used heroin at least once since 2017: 886,000 individuals have tried it and around a quarter of them will go on to be addicted to heroin. All we can do is hope that Cody gets the help he needs and doesn’t become just another statistic.
People who read Jennifer's story encouraged her not to give up
