Pubdate: Sat, 18 Feb 2006
Source: Virginia Gazette, The (Williamsburg, VA)
Copyright: 2006 The Virginia Gazette
Contact:  http://www.vagazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3760
Author: Name withheld

TEST TO PREVENT TRAGEDY

My 24-year-old daughter is a heroin addict. I found out late one 
night in 2003 when I received a call that my daughter, who was a 
student at Virginia Commonwealth University, was in the emergency 
room at MCV Hospital with Hepatitis-C. She got the disease from using 
a shared spoon that was used to prepare the heroin for injection into 
her vein. She could have also been infected with HIV, but thankfully 
she has avoided that disease so far.

Over the next two years I learned that she had begun using drugs 
(marijuana) at age 14, and progressed to heroin by 18. In the ensuing 
years, she tried every illegal drug available. Heroin was her drug of choice.

My husband and I did not have a clue that she was using drugs until 
the emergency room visit. She has been through drug rehab countless 
times and still struggles with it today. She will struggle with it 
for the rest of her life. Also for the remainder of her life she will 
try to fight the potentially fatal Hepatitis-C, for which there is no cure.

Five years ago I was against drug testing in the workplace and in 
schools. I considered it an invasion of privacy. No more. Knowing 
what I know now, I would test all kids at least once during each 
school year with ongoing random testing throughout the year. I would 
also test on suspicion.

My daughter says that most kids in school use at least one type of 
drug on a continuing basis. Parents, there is nothing more important 
than your children. Urge your school to implement drug testing. It 
may save you a lot of heartache in the future.

Name withheld to protect the daughter's identity
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman