In order to stretch the supply of heroin, dealers often “cut” the supply, which in short means mixing other, often deadlier, drugs into it. Cutting reduces purity and there is no way of knowing what’s actually in it, short of doing a chemical analysis. According to CNN, dealers have begun cutting heroin with carfentanil, otherwise known as elephant tranquilizer. It is 10,000 times stronger than heroin and a dose the size of a grain of salt is enough to kill a person.
Addictions often happen to ordinary people who have made a series of poor life choices, and now, they’re in too deep to stop. Feelings of guilt, shame, and fear of being stigmatized are among some of the reasons why many of those suffering from addiction in our community do n’ot seek help. As a community, we need to offer more compassion, and less judgement. As author and political activist Eldridge Cleaver once said, “If you are not a part of the solution, you are a part of the problem.” Instead of condemning a group of people who are suffering enough as it is, we should ask ourselves what we can do to help.