Behind the white picket fences, heroin

Beth Genslinger doesn’t fit the stereotype of a victim of a drug epidemic. She thoughtfully sets out glasses of water for her guests before they arrive and wears a teacher’s warm, open smile: She retired from Valley View Junior High right before her granddaughter was born, after 33 years of teaching. Her husband was an insurance agent and, to his children’s friends, a formidable breakfast chef.

Their son, Andy, died of a heroin overdose in October 2015. The same thing happened to his cousin Daniel Weidle less than three months later, the day after Christmas. A third cousin had died after a battle with opioids in 2005.

The Genslingers live in Germantown, Ohio, a close-knit country community nine miles north of Middletown on Ohio State Route 4. The median family income here exceeds $50,000; less than 6 percent of the population is under the poverty line. These houses have porches, and their porches have flags. Beth grew up here. Her parents live right next door; they have now lost three grandchildren. The family is what a neighbor calls “preeminent” in the community.

The opioid epidemic does not discriminate. Unlike crack or meth, there is no single cultural profile. National statistics suggest that more men than women use, and the demographic is largely white. But the rich are affected almost as much as the poor, those with college degrees alongside high school dropouts.

[ The secret to killing the heroin epidemic is the the cultivation and the distribution. Sabotage the cultivation by seeding the fields with DNA engineered seeds that will produce plants that do not create opium. Every plant they pollinate will have the same problem. It would be biological disaster.

In the distribution, I would have satellites monitoring the distribution system in each step from field to refinement to shipments to the drug hubs. Then we hit them hard. ]

The problem is the Drug war is in a sense a very winnable war, but it is gamed by the “Deep State” like Vietnam was. There is too much money that the deep state can hook into that will be the reason why it will never be won, because they not only maintain, but grow their power and their power enriches those who benefit most from it.

I heard a story on the radio, about lawsuits directed at pharma concerns, for false advertising and false claims made to doctors, about the level of addiction, etc.

I believe most doctors are ill educated, for how to dispense these drugs.

I had a serious shoulder fracture, which took 2 weeks until surgery. So two weeks before surgery and then two weeks after, I was on high powered opioids.

As a recovered alcoholics, I was frightened over the chance of addiction. So I contacted the physician, got the PA, told him I wanted off the drug. He said first get a 1/2 strength supply, in case cold Turkey didn’t work.

I got the supply of 1/2 strength,, but did not use even one. I kicked it on my own immediately.

I can see clearly that many users might not be so fortunate, informed, experienced with addiction.

The stories I hear are about folks that start with a legitimate pain issue, but when the doctor cuts them off, they turn to street opioids or heroin.

Often these types were not your typical “addict.”

My hope is that the medical community takes some responsibility and develops skills fast, to get folks off the drugs, or better not use them to start.

The difference from the lowest to the strongest opioid is staggering. Some of the ODs are merely from getting something far, far stronger than expected or sought.

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