AVON LAKE — Nancy Krasienko knows the agony that comes with watching a loved one spiral out of control as heroin addiction consumes them.
The Lorain resident watched her daughter Megan Wheeler go from a happy kid with good grades to someone who stole, lied and did anything she could to feed her heroin habit.
KRISTIN BAUER | CHRONICLE
Lorain County Coroner Dr. Stephen Evans speaks about the heroin epidemic at the Avon Lake Public Library on Tuesday evening, April 26.
Wheeler died at age 30 last April from an overdose, leaving behind two young children.
“She battled addiction for 10 years,” Krasienko said. “She was in and out of treatment, jail and homeless at times.”
Krasienko said Wheeler abused multiple drugs, and when an autopsy was performed the coroner found seven drugs, including fentanyl, in her system.
Wheeler grew up enjoying school, working at an ice cream stand, tutoring at the Salvation Army and generally being happy.
Krasienko’s birthday fell on the day her daughter graduated, and her daughter headed home to throw a party for her instead of having a graduation party. That’s the kind of person she was before addiction took over, Krasienko said — someone who put others before herself.
“She was a great girl who loved her mom and loved her family,” Krasienko said.
But after Wheeler graduated, Krasienko said she began running with the wrong crowd. She was soon stealing pills from her brother who was prescribed Adderall for attention deficit disorder. From there she was introduced to oxycodone and in a matter of time spoons began disappearing from the house as she started to mainline heroin.
April 6, 2015, is a day that Krasienko will never forget because it was the day her daughter became one of 56 who died of drug overdoses last year in Lorain County.
“It was the worst day of my life to lose my baby,” Krasienko said through tears. “It was more like she was murdered. That’s how it feels to me.”
Krasienko is one of many left behind who now seek comfort in the various support groups available to those whose children die of drug overdoses.
OD deaths double
During a Tuesday forum sponsored by opiate addiction awareness group Assist Avon Lake, Lorain County Coroner Dr. Stephen Evans said deaths from opiate overdoses are expected to hit 120 in the county this year, highlighting the need for continued dialogue on combating addiction.
Evans talked about the opiate epidemic in Lorain County where scores of people are abusing both prescription opiates like Percocet and street drugs like heroin. Out of the 30 fatal overdoses this year, 18 have been the result of heroin mixed with fentanyl, he said.
More than 600 people die daily in the United States from overdoses, including five people daily in Ohio and two people each week in Lorain County.
Every community has been affected, Evans said, from the urban and rural areas to the suburbs. Evans first gave a lecture about the heroin epidemic three years ago when Avon Lake Mayor Greg Zilka took the bold step of publicly acknowledging the problem after a string of overdoses occurred.
But the numbers continue to rise even though first responders and the public now can administer Narcan to revive those who have overdosed.
“We’re not any better and things have gotten worse,” he said.
Losing the War on Drugs
Pharmaceutical companies have a long history of introducing opiates into the population to address illness and pain, Evans said, going back to 1805 when morphine was introduced by Merck & Co. pharmaceuticals.
In 1890, heroin was introduced into the market as a safe and non-addictive alternative to morphine that was supposed to eliminate morphine addiction.
One hundred years later the drug companies again duped the American public when OxyContin was introduced, Evans said.
“I’ll throw (the drug companies) under the bus because they deserve it,” Evans said. “They paid for studies that showed that these heroin-in-pill-form drugs were safe and non-addicting.”
From there the drug companies went to the government and said doctors were undertreating pain, Evans said, and pain became the fifth vital sign and along with it came an explosion of prescriptions.
Both doctors and the public need to realize the risks associated with taking prescription opiates or leaving prescription drugs around and easily accessible to children, Evans said.
And Evans said it’s time to recognize that addicts have a medical problem and should not be treated as criminals. As a society we cannot arrest our way out of the heroin epidemic, Evans said.
“Ronald Reagan started the War on Drugs in the 1980s,” he said. “Guess what? We’ve lost that war.
“It’s not worked. For every drug dealer you put away, two rise up to take their place.”
The LCADA Way director Tom Stuber said drugs are getting more powerful and more dangerous.
“I’ve been in the field of treatment and prevention for 36 years and have never seen anything more threatening or destructive,” Stuber said of the current state of opiate addiction in Lorain County.
Those who use opiates experience an increase in dopamine levels that is higher than the levels produced by marijuana, cocaine or sex, Stuber said. Sex generally creates a 50 percent increase in dopamine levels while cocaine raises levels by 300 percent and heroin raises it 1,500 percent. When this happens, the structure and function of the brain changes and people can no longer function without heroin or opiates, Stuber said, which leads to intense craving and drug seeking.
Women will sign themselves out of treatment during late stages of pregnancy, Stuber said, while young people will continue to use even after they personally watch their friends overdose and die.
“The power of the drug takes total control of the individual,” Stuber said.
Krasienko knows the harsh reality of such control. Her daughter was writing fake prescriptions, selling suboxone and lashing out if she couldn’t get money for heroin.
Today Krasienko meets twice a month with other mothers who have lost children, meeting to grieve at a home in Amherst, share stories and ways to move forward.
“Go somewhere, anywhere, knock on a door, pick up the phone and get help,” Krasienko said. “Don’t be ashamed. Let’s talk about it.”
Such steps need to be taken, Evans said, because addicts and families of those who have died shouldn’t feel powerless or manipulated.
Evans pointed to a slide with 100 tombstones pictured on it, saying now is the time to share stories and work to educate people about the dangers of opiates.
“It’s time for us to say something,” Evans said. “We can’t give up on these people.”
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