College Voices
The Painful Reality Behind Opioid Addiction
“It started getting to the point where I would stick a needle in my arm and pray I wouldn’t wake up, just so I didn’t have to do it anymore.”
Jonathan Truncellito grew up in Fayetteville, North Carolina. After graduating high school, he enlisted in the Marine Corps and deployed overseas. During his fourth year of service, he shattered his jaw and was prescribed Percocet.
“That’s really where my problems started,” he says.
He began upping his dosages, abusing his prescription, and quickly spiraled out of control.
“I became a very distant person. The only reason I would let somebody in was because I had a reason to use them.”
To fund his addiction, he stole from his parents and friends.
“I actually stole from my nephew’s birthday card because I knew it had money in it that I needed.”
Truncellito’s story is all too familiar.
Opioid addiction in the U.S. has been on the rise since the 90’s, according to the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM).
The rise can be largely contributed to the misinformation put out by pharmaceutical companies. Although pharmaceutical companies say otherwise, these drugs are highly addictive. Doctors started prescribing opioid painkillers such as OxyContin, Vicodin, and Percocet. Subsequently, the misuse of prescription opioids skyrocketed.
The ASAM estimates that of the 20.5 million Americans aged 12 or older who had a substance abuse disorder in 2015, two million of them were addicted to prescription opioids.
Research also shows that rural areas in the U.S. are particularly at risk for opioid addiction.
Michael Arflin, a detective at the Clemson City Police Department in South Carolina, is well aware of its effect on communities like his.
“Around here, all kinds of people are abusing all kinds of opioids. Whether it’s prescription pills like Vicodin, OxyContin, or the more illicit items like heroin,” he reveals.
A recent trend he’s seen in upstate SC is the rise of fentanyl, a dangerous synthetic opioid. This substance, along with another called carfentanil, has started being used to cut heroin.
According to the DEA, carfentanil, which was designed as an elephant tranquilizer, is lethal for human consumption. Arflin believes some rural areas simply aren’t equipped to properly deal with opioid addiction.
“The rate of addiction is outpacing our knowledge of how to handle it, so we’re trying our best to catch up,” he says.
At the height of his addiction, Truncellito’s mother locked him in his old room until he found somewhere safe to go.
That led him to Solutions Recovery Center in Greenville, SC. There, he underwent detox and graduated from the program in 2015. He credits the program for saving his life.
“Solutions gave me a second chance. When I was addicted, I couldn’t see my life being any other way. But here I am.”
He now serves as a sober living director at Solutions. “It’s a very rewarding feeling to see the change in people’s lives as they get sober.”
Truncellito worries about the effect the proposed health care bill might have on the opioid epidemic. Despite the claims Trump had made on the campaign trail to end the opioid crisis, his actual work in office has given recovering addicts cause for concern.
The proposed American Health Care Act is projected to cost millions of Americans their health insurance, which includes cuts to drug treatment coverage.
According to an analysis from The Hill, this could leave almost a quarter of a million Americans struggling with opioid addiction without adequate access to care. Additionally, a $100 million cut to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration could also affect
addiction services.
Experts believe the best way to approach the opioid epidemic is to invest more resources in drug addiction and treatment.
According to a 2016 Surgeon General analysis, addiction care is severely underfunded in the U.S. A mere 10% of Americans battling addiction are able to receive treatment. This is due to the shortage of treatment options offered by the government available to them.
“It’s a horrible thing,” he says. “To save the upper-class money, they’re cutting the programs that they think can be cut with minimal backlash. It’s gonna cost a lot of people their lives.”