Is There an Opioid Problem in St Cloud?

We hear a lot about the "Opioid Crisis" in America.  A problem that has spread to most all communities in the country and I can't see why St Cloud and surrounding area would be an exception.

Most people seem to equate opiate abuse with "illicit drug users" which, while it may be the case in a lot of instances, it goes much deeper into our communities than that.

A very common scenario is, a person has surgery or an injury, etc. To deal with the pain, they are prescribed an opioid. Maybe 10, 20, 30 or even more to deal with the pain. soon, they are addicted, if they haven't already overdosed on the drug.

Once the prescription runs out or becomes too costly, the person will turn to a cheaper and easier to obtain, heroin. Add fentanyl to the mix and an overdose is a strong possibility.

Many of the deaths are normal upstanding citizens that became addicted just by trying to deal with pain. Could be almost anyone. Your next door neighbor, teacher, or even your grandma.

A while back, Florida shut down "Pain Clinics" that would prescribe up to 90 tablets to people that would walk in off the street, get checked by the resident physician and walk out with a prescription. Many would walk down the street to another clinic and get even more. Thankfully this has stopped, at least in Florida.

The latest solution is to prescribe only 2 or 3 opioid tablets for pain and find other solutions after that, if needed.

I've. personally, know of a couple of people that got caught up in opioid addiction and ending up dying.

If you know someone with a problem, get them some help and monitor use by family and friends before they slip over that threshold of addiction.