RALSTON, Neb. (KMTV) - Across the United States, thousands of people are hooked on opioids. Recent studies indicate 78 people die each day after overdosing.
Experts are focused on the problems caused by heroin and certain prescription drug addiction. In Nebraska in 2014, those two types of narcotics accounted for nearly half of all fatal drug overdoses.
Local addiction treatment centers report being the busiest they’ve been in decades.
The path toward addiction often starts with a trip to the doctor’s office.
In his early 20’s Brandon R. woke up with severe back pain. He made numerous trips to specialists, even had neck surgery, trying to find permanent relief. During this time doctors prescribed him hydrocodone.
“As I started feeling better from the surgery and recovering I found that I needed the medication just as much. And it was to have a sense of normality,” he said.
Brandon says he didn't have drug or substance abuse problems in the past. But the painkillers transformed him.
“I became a very hollow individual. There was nothing behind these eyes."
A legitimate prescription was his gateway to a world now quickly swallowing thousands of people a year.
According to the CDC the rate of people overdosing and dying on opiods has quadrupled since 1999.
The government report shows the death rate mirrors a similar increase in the number of prescriptions for opiod painkillers.
After addiction sets in it's common for people to find cheaper highs on the street like heroin or morphine.
“And we're seeing quite a bit of that. Probably more so of that than what we're seeing as far as prescribed,” said Shaelan Jenkins, the program director at Valley Hope, an addiction treatment center in Ralston.
“This has been one of our busiest years in the past 10 years,” Jenkins said.
They're goal is to find and help people before they hit rock bottom. Most of their patients are referred there by doctors or the legal system. The program at Valley Hope helped Brandon who has lived without drugs for 8 years.
But he knows the risks of addiction are always there, “It is a sleeping giant. It can just come back and get me at anytime. I know many people that it has and sometimes they don't come back.”
