The Brutal aftershock of the opioid crisis on triton

“We had a lot of students in and out of rehab. They were good kids, it ripped their soul’s away from them”- Ms. Bebo

In recent years the death rate of opioids has spiked to over 40,000 a year, most of which occured in the Northeast region of U.S. -Drugabuse.gov. The Triton Voice was curious about how this has been affecting the Triton population. 

Though the amount of triton students using opioids is slim, the amount of students who have been majorly affected is tremendous. A survey was conducted on 25 triton students. The question being; “Have you been affected?” more specifically do you personally know someone who has abused opioids? 

16 out of the 25 students said yes. Thats 64% of the students interviewed, Most of which had their own dejected back stories to tell as well. For some it was an aunt, uncle, or cousin that abused, for others it was their parents or a sibling. The Triton Administrators stated that not only has it affected triton students, but it has killed a few as well, even in recent years. When this happens, it is kept quiet as to not leave a stain on the family. 

Mr.Scott Brennan the vice principal at triton stated that the opioid crisis did indeed affect triton Both in direct and indirect ways. He stated that there was an increase in stealing/theft at triton that corresponded with the opioid crisis. 

He compared how the opioid crisis is extremely similar to the vaping epidemic in the sense of how people and students where lied to and manipulated by big business to turn a profit. In this case the culprits being the sackler family and the big vaping companies. 

“Quite a few students have died at triton to opioids, well a few lets say”-Mr.Scott Brennan

Another staff member Mr.Timothy Jepson stated “ I’ve had 2 students OD.”

Students don’t have to inherently use opioids in order for the opioid crisis to majorly affect their health, One junior stated that he believed he had a fairly “generic” experience with opioids.

“I never used any but my parents do a lot. At first I was ok with it. I was seven or so when my mom first told me she was taking oxycontin, never thought much of it. But a couple years went by, money became tight, my mom kept losing weight and sleeping a lot. Eventually she didn’t have enough money to pay the bills anymore so we moved back in with my dad. I didn’t know then, but around that time she started to use a cheaper

opioid called phetanoly. We had no money, nor food, nor electricity. Fights between my mother and father seemed to happen every night because of drugs. I felt deranged staying with them. However the brief glimpses of what my mother and father used to be kept that spark of hope alive. That hope for what they used to be kept me there, kept me suffering with them for years. I still have nightmares of those times.”

He stated that as a result of those events as well as some others, he started to do drugs himself. He gave up in school, started to skip and break the rules. He stated that the worst loss was that of his moral compass. 

The relatively same patterns follow with the rest of the students that had family that used, a loss of hope, and an overall nihilistic view on life and a slough of long lasting mental problems. Some were more damaged than others and very few were able to rubber band into the same mentality they had before their own respective experiences transpired. 

Another student who has had a nihilistic view of the world because of there problems with opiods, told us how one of her family members getting addicted and dying, caused her to stop caring about school. Her Uncle went to florida and got addicted,and eventually he came back to Massachecuettes when she was in the 5th grade.

“he got off, got back on, then off, then back on pain meds because of a surgery.” she said.

She stated that he seemed to be happier when on drugs, but she would still get upset and scream at him every time she found out he was on something. Eventually, her uncle died and once this happened her life changed. 

She started skipping classes, not doing work, and felt sad most of the time. She told us that she asked if he was hooked on drugs again 2 days before he died. She also told us how he told her that he was gonna die 2 weeks before his actual passing. 

Some kids find ways to deal with their problems though. A sophomore said that his mom and dad got hooked and finally went to rehab when he was 9.

“It hasn’t really affected me.” he said.

  He said that his parents would do drugs occasionally, but not often. He said that while his mom and dad where on drugs, he looked up to his friends for companionship and that’s how he got through it. 

For students who decided to use in school, the School Nurse is equipped with a pen injector called Evzio. This is used on people who are suspected of being on opioids. Evzio goes into the body and eliminates as much opioids as it can. 

Many of our student interviewees recall seeing NARCAN in their homes during their loved ones use of opioid