Page 58 - Relapse News Today

He was so good that his dreams of going to the olympics seemed within reach. he couldnt have imagined that a dental procedure when he was 19 would derail those dreams and start a whole new obsession with prescription pain pills. >> it just worked. you know, it clicked. it was like the stars were aligned and ive never felt anything like it. >> reporter: this time, it was percocet but the high joe felt from all sorts of opiates led him to another opiate delivery system, heroin, one of the most dan...

I wasnt even awake and all of a sudden i felt something, that thing, that ancient feeling like oh, my god. and i said what did you just give me? she says fentanyl. i said oh, my god. i freaked out because this felt good. its like, i was eight years clean and i was like, this isnt fair. i was drugged. >> reporter: whether or not the nurse simply forgot or there is still a fundamental misunderstanding about the severity of addiction, joe was in trouble. again. but this time, the brutal years he ha...

Therapist suggested i go back to something i was passionate about, which was gymnastics. in my eyes, i was a failure. my only goal was to go to the olympics and i didnt. so to go back to that sport was to walk into humiliation. i went back to it. in rehab i started doing hand stands and pushups, just to see what it would feel like. and a fire -- i should say a spark ignited. >> reporter: no surprise, it felt pretty good and after rehab, joe caught a break and started performing on broadway. but ...

>> i want to make a really important point. these are fda-approved doctor-prescribed pills. this is heroin. they both virtually have the same effect on the brain. the most typical course that someone starts with pills like this, they get cut off. they turn to heroin, which is an illegal drug but works fast. it gets you high and it is very, very cheap. we now know that 80% of heroin users started off with pills like these. >> the question always arises with these sorts of programs, does it enable...

Condition. people need help lots of times. that if they relapse, they them- failed. we send all the wrong messages. so people dont want to continue to suffer. >> the chief knows this because he lives this. >> you were a plains clothesed narcotics detective for some time. you saw these people up close, people who were addicted to heroin, living that life. >> we had a mom that was a heroin addict for years. she had a 2-year-old son in her care. we would routinely do search warrants if we knew that...

Lot lots of times. we have as a society told them if they relapse, they fail, and people dont want to continue to fail. >> reporter: and the chief knows this because he lives it. you were a plain clothes narcotics officer and you saw these people, but you saw them up close, the people addicted to heroin living the life. >> we had a mom who was a heroin addict for years. she had a 2-year-old son in her care, and we would routinely do search warrants if we knew that she was selling out of the hous...

They havent had the help to get better. this is a chronic relapsing condition. people need help lots of times. we have, as a society, told them that if they relapse, they fail. weve sent all the wrong messages. so people dont want to continue to suffer. >> reporter: the chief knows this because he lives this. you were a plainclothesed narcotics detective for some time. you saw these people. i mean, you still see these people, but you really saw them up close, people who were addicted to heroin, ...

>> remarkable. so caseys story is compelling and you find yourself pulling for him and see how hard he has to work to stay clean. what is he doing now? >> hes working in this recovery center. hes paid to do that now. thats part of his new life. this is a dangerously addictive substance to the point youre making. the relapse is always there waiting potentially in the wings. hes got to be very careful. its -- you think how hard can it be to avoid opiates when you go to the dentist officer for a pr...

>> what do you think now when you see somebody whos clearly junk sick on the street? >> it gives me that yuck, sick feeling. and it scares me. like it reminds me why i dont want to be out there. its just scary. a friend of mine overdosed january 1st of this year. and my brother-in-law overdosed in wendys bathroom and they found him. and they brought him back to life. he was dead in the bathroom. >> uh-huh. >> so this is my narcam. i carry this around, i have one of these in my house and i have o...

>> what do you think now when you see somebody whos clearly junk sick on the street? >> it gives me that yuck, sick feeling. and it scares me. like it reminds me why i dont want to be out there. its just scary. a friend of mine overdosed january 1st of this year. and my brother-in-law overdosed in wendys bathroom and they found him. and they brought him back to life. he was dead in the bathroom. >> uh-huh. >> so this is my narcam. i carry this around, i have one of these in my house and i have o...