When Jules Batchker, senior political science major and multimedia reporter at The Current, was in high school in New York City, she learned firsthand the effects of drug use on students. She lost two of her best friends to overdoses.
Eli and Maxwell passed away between 2020 and 2022.
“When Eli had relapsed after three years of being clean, one of the first things that I did was tell him to get to a pharmacy to acquire something called Narcan, which is an opioid overdose reversal. A lot of the advice that I had given Eli in his final days was mainly surrounding harm reduction. Don’t use dirty needles, test your substances, get a test kit,” Batchker said. “A lot of what I had done for Eli in his final days was finding him health care in places where he could safely withdraw or find an alternative, such as Suboxone, which is a substance that’s used to help get people off of heroin.”
Like her friends, college students all over the nation are dealing with the issue of drugs and overdose.
Michelle Weiner, clinical assistant professor at NSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine and director of integrative pain management at Spine and Wellness Centers of America, blames major pharmaceutical companies for the rise of drug-addicted young adults.
The problem needs to be addressed and resolved, she said.
“Physicians are scared to treat pain now. They’re scared of opioids and a big problem that we have is people who are on chronic opioids. We don’t have other solutions for them that are covered by insurance,” Weiner said. “We’ve created an opioid epidemic because if you go to a pain doctor a few years ago, when you state you have pain and you do physical therapy and maybe some injections and it doesn’t help, eventually they just give you opioids and then now you are dependent on these medications, and it’s very sad.”
Weiner said that in order to treat drug addiction, doctors have to treat both the body and mind.
“The opioids make them more sensitive to pain, or they just didn’t learn how to manage their pain because they were given a medication too quickly. So now their brain doesn’t know how to handle pain. A lot of it’s educating how the mind and the body are connected,” Weiner said.
Weiner added that people also refuse to be comfortable with their own emotions, and this leads to the impulse to take drugs.
“I think the bigger issue is the fact that we’re not teaching people to sit in their discomfort, and they’re too quick to use a substance to change their mood. I think that people are just used to knowing now that they can take medicine or use a substance to alter their minds so that they don’t have to feel what they’re feeling. I think that’s such a disservice,” Weiner said.
Batchker also witnessed this emotional disconnect in her friends who struggled with addiction.
“I think that a lot of people don’t realize that addiction doesn’t necessarily look or sound or feel like a particular kind of person or stereotype. It can really happen to anyone,” Batchker said. “We’re talking about boys that came from a more privileged background than most people with parents that lived on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. These aren’t kids that grew up in poor impoverished areas.”
Weiner also believes that there is a rise in drug use because of a lack of knowledge and awareness of the problem. She said that many college students feel as though long-term consequences won’t impact them with recreational drug use.
“They think they’re young and healthy, and they’re just going to take the substance and they have that mentality that it’s not going to affect them,” Weiner said.
Weiner said that having a support group is as crucial as being educated on irreversible drug combinations.
“I think group work is very helpful. Being with other people who maybe have the same challenges and being able to discuss that allows them to see they’re not alone,” Weiner said.
Batchker agreed and said it’s important to be aware but also pro-active.
“Educate your friends on the dangers of the combination of benzodiazepines [depressants that relieve anxiety] and opiates [natural opioids like heroin and morphine] because that is the most common nonreversible overdose,” Batchker said. “Do wellness checks on your friends, tell their parents, tell people who can help them, consult with an addictions counselor, find your local AA [Alcoholics Anonymous] or NA [Narcotics Anonymous] chapter and look for the lowest cost health care options in your area.”
The Addiction Awareness Association at NSU strives to raise awareness of the problem of drug overdose and teaches prevention to graduate students studying psychology and doctoral trainees.
Madison Roopchand, graduate student in clinical psychology, and president of the organization, said the first step to raising awareness is removing the taboo over drug addictions.
“It’s asking questions, first of all, and it’s asking the right questions. It’s normalizing that experience and decreasing stigma,” Roopchand said. “I think the more we talk about anything and the more we get familiar with anything, it takes away the taboo.”
Roopchand said finding the right resources is key.
“Try to find services with them and offer your support by connecting with groups and organizations, like us,” Roopchand said. “We can help you find resources as far as local facilities that will offer individual therapy and outpatient therapy depending on the level of care that you might need.”
Below is a list of phone numbers to call in case of a drug or overdose crisis:
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration hotline: 1-800-662-4357
Narcotics Anonymus Florida hotline: (844)-623-5674
Florida National Rehab hotline: 866-210-1303
If you see someone overdosing, try to wake them up by shouting and shaking them. If they don’t respond, immediately call 911. Then spray Narcan nasal spray halfway up each nostril and repeat every three to five seconds. Perform CPR until emergency help arrives and stay by the person’s side until they wake up. Turn the person on their side to prevent choking.
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