Golden Triangle – Opioid Addiction

The first boy to send me a love note has died. In first grade he wrote a letter to the effect of “will you be my girlfriend”. There was a box to check ‘yes’ or ‘no’ with the ‘yes’ filled in with a dense, black scribble before getting passed my way. The teacher saw me reading the note and ordered me to return it to her desk as children giggled all around.

I had also been scolded the year before, when this same boy whispered to me during nap time. On that particular day I had the privilege of sleeping in the wooden toy house and I had to lift myself up to its window to hear what he was saying to me. “Amy, lay down and go to sleep,” in a tone that only teachers can master.

Southern Ohio has become a hotbed for opioid addiction. You may have seen the controversial images a couple of years ago that police posted of a little boy sitting belted in the back of a vehicle as his parents were slumped in the front seats from an apparent overdose. I used these images as a talking point for an ethics lesson to anti-trafficking organizations in Thailand which operate near the Golden Triangle; considered the top opioid-producing region in Southeast Asia. The images are unsettling, but a dose of reality for an epidemic that has pushed Ohio in the number two position for overdose deaths, topped only by West Virginia; just across the river.

It can be difficult to empathize with empty faces of addiction posted from mug shots and security cameras, but once you see that cute and ornery child within the face of someone affected, it hits much closer to home.