Some 91 people die every day in America from opioid overdoses, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, this week the CDC said the actual number is likely much higher. The bulk of those deaths are from heroin. To a lesser degree, people are dying from other kinds of opioids, such as heroin’s chemical cousins, prescription painkillers. This epidemic is touching every community in every state in the country. The crisis is particularly devastating in Ohio, where 11 percent of the nation’s heroin deaths occur.
Police in Liverpool, Ohio snapped a heartbreaking and shocking photo of a helpless, wide-eyed four-year-old in a van on the side of the road. His grandmother and her boyfriend in the front seat both had overdosed on heroin. Police say they posted the picture on the department’s Facebook page to illustrate the severity of the heroin epidemic in Ohio. People overdosing on heroin in broad daylight, in public, in front of children is far too common these days.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine says although heroin is everywhere, it’s especially prevalent in rural areas. It’s transforming wholesome, small towns across the Buckeye state. For example, in Marion, one of the hardest hit areas, police responded to 12 overdoses in just three days.
Matt Gossard is from Marion. Despite his devoutly Christian upbringing as a pastor’s son, he was hooked on heroin for five years. “I didn’t care about my family, I didn’t care about my job, I didn’t care about school, I dropped out. My life was dedicated to chasing drugs,” he recalled. “I would go to a bar, find the biggest guy there and punch him in the face and hope I get beat up so I can feel some pain. Because I was just dead inside. And the drugs, they just completely deaden any emotions you have.”
Like three-fourths of all heroin addicts, Matt first became addicted to prescription pain pills. A former paratrooper, he suffered a painful injury during a training jump. “They just literally started shoving painkillers down my throat. And it was enough to bring down a rhinoceros. And I took them.”
Matt says his story is typical. “At first you take them because you are in pain. But then it gets its hooks in you. And all the sudden, before you even know it, you’re dependent upon it. And your body is telling you, ‘I need more, I need more, I need more’ and you obey your body because if you don’t have it, you get sick,” he said.
When Matt could no longer easily obtain prescription pain pills, he switched to heroin. “Because it’s almost the same thing, except heroin is stronger and cheaper and more available, which is the scary part,” he said.
Attorney General DeWine created a special heroin unit to tackle Ohio’s heroin epidemic. DeWine’s team is making headway catching the bad guys. But he says Ohio will never be able to “arrest itself out of the problem.” He says education and prevention are key and advocates age-appropriate awareness at every grade level beginning in kindergarten.
DeWine also established a statewide program to enlist the faith community. DeWine has met with church leaders on eight separate occasions to ask for their help with prevention and treatment. “What we see is that the programs that work, the treatment that works, many times has a faith-based component part to it,” DeWine said.
Matt Gossard can vouch for that. After a number of failed attempts to quit heroin, it was a Christian treatment center that finally made the difference. “I believe that Jesus Christ is the only answer. I believe that there is no other answer, other than Christ.” He remembers his turning point. “I started to pray. And I was thinking about all the horrible things I had done in my life and I said, ‘If I was the only person on earth, would Jesus still have come and died just for me?’ And that night was the first time God ever spoke to me. He said, ‘Yes, son, I would have.’”
Matt now leads Champions Network, a Christ-centered recovery ministry. He is working with the attorney general and pastors across Ohio to ensure each church in the state has its own addiction specialist. “There is somebody in every church in this state that’s been affected by addiction. I guarantee it,” he said.
While the heroin crisis rages in the Buckeye State, Ohioans are fighting back with awareness and Christ-centered treatment that shows people a way out of their addiction through Jesus Christ.