WARNING: Graphic images.
A small-town police department in Ohio is making headlines for sharing confronting photos of a drug-addled couple passed out in their car with a stunned little boy in the backseat.
Posting the photos to their Facebook page, the City of East Liverpool police department wrote that although the knew the photos were both graphic and confronting, they believed it was important step in demonstrating just how widespread heroin use is across their town.
“The city administration works hand in hand with our men in blue to combat this epidemic and together with the law director we have made the decision to release the attached,” they began.
“We feel it necessary to show the other side of this horrible drug. We feel we need to be a voice for the children caught up in this horrible mess. This child can’t speak for himself but we are hopeful his story can convince another user to think twice about injecting this poison while having a child in their custody.”
The police department also acknowledged the inevitable: the images would offend, and they were prepared for that. Despite this, they wrote that offending some people is a small price to pay in the pursuit of combating such a tragic and pervasive epidemic.
“We are well aware that some may be offended by these images and for that we are truly sorry, but it is time that the non drug using public sees what we are now dealing with on a daily basis. The poison known as heroin has taken a strong grip on many communities not just ours, the difference is we are willing to fight this problem until it’s gone and if that means we offend a few people along the way we are prepared to deal with that.”
In an affidavit also released by the police department, a policeman who initially discovered the car said he noticed something was awry when he witnessed the car swerving off the road and “erratically weaving back in forth in the lane.”
Upon seeing the car “slowing in an angle and drifting” to a stop, Officer Kevin Thompson said that when he approached the driver, since identified as James Acord, his head was “bobbing back and forth” and his speech “almost unintelligible.”
Police said Acord then attempted to drive away before falling completely unconscious, while the woman in the car, Rhonda Pasek, was similarly unconscious and turning blue.
The decisive action has seen cheers of support and outrage alike from members of the community, with the comments-section of the post overflowing with debate about the fate of the couple and the future for the child.
More than anything though, a common thread littered through the comments-section is an outpouring of sympathy for the four-year-old pictured in the car.
"My heart breaks for the little boy but also for the parents. Drugs are more of a threat to our way of lives than we think. I pray for all children of addicted parents and those whom are addicted," one person wrote.
Another hoped someone would take the boy under their wing immediately.
"Hope the child gets out of that terrible situation and into a better one immediately," they said.
After being live for just over 24 hours, the post has since been liked by nearly 9000 people and shared by over 23,000.
Top Comments
What is infuriating is that if you read the article/s, they both pleaded not guilty (probably goes to show why photographic evidence is needed and the police did the RIGHT THING). They didn't have the ability to even act suitably contrite or showed remorse. I can have sympathy for addicts, but when they obstinately are unmoved by being caught and with their 4 year old child in the back while you're passed out, well, to most people that would be rock bottom and you'd be pleading the Judge for forgiveness. These 2 show no self-awareness and no remorse. Maybe, just maybe, public shaming *might* be the one thing that has an affect, and makes them wake up and seek help.
Opioids replicate what occurs in the brain to quell pain. Careful
titration regulates dosage and makes them effective pain relief medication.
Natural neuroadaptations, however, result in the reduced effect of the drugs, in other words, building up a tolerance. The moment a drug is introduced to receptors in the brain, the body’s natural homeostasis kicks in to try to return a proper balance in the brain against elements it did not produce naturally.
In the case of opioids, it is a circuitous route to addiction. I feel for those who get hooked on this route, and I understand how difficult it is to get off, but it is possible to get off. However, even
seemingly innocuous elements, such as the Valerian root used as an herbal remedy, can send a person back into the cycle as it is related to the opioid family.
Personally, I vote for legalizing marijuana as it has shown
to bring opium addiction way down. For that matter, I think all drugs should be legalized. It is ridiculous to withhold and make illegal substances that help people. And when they are legal, there is no underground or black market needed. I realize that is a generalization, but this whole war on drugs is crap.