Fentanyl’s Latest Victim:
An 8-Year-Old in Detroit
A few months ago, I wrote a blog about a 13-year-old who died from an overdose of fentanyl and heroin. It’s awful news that young children are now being laid to rest after taking a toxic combination of these drugs. After all the work that’s been done and the work that’s currently being done as far as the drug problem is concerned, it’s pretty discouraging to hear yet another story of a child whose life was taken by drugs.
Fentanyl is an extremely scary drug and it’s finding its way into just about every other drug out there. Fentanyl is no longer only in heroin. It’s in cocaine, it’s being mixed with meth, heroin, and some stories suggest its even being mixed with marijuana. When a person decides to take drugs, they’re taking a major risk because they don’t necessarily know if they’re going to live to tell about it. As the drug crisis marches on, fentanyl is taking no prisoners. The latest victim of the drug, sadly enough, was an 8-year-old living in Detroit.
Last July, Jamere Arnold was found foaming at the mouth and mostly unresponsive at his grandmother’s house at 2 am. Paramedics were called and when they arrived on the scene the child was going into cardiac arrest and unfortunately later died at the hospital. Jamere’s grandmother had seen the child drinking an alcoholic drink that a family member had made earlier in the evening, so the Medical Examiner in Wayne county originally believed the child died from acute alcohol poisoning, but recent toxicology reports indicate that he really died from a fentanyl overdose.
This story brings up so many red flags that I don’t even know where to begin. So, first of all, how was an 8-year-old permitted to drink alcohol? The story states that the grandmother witnessed him drinking an “alcoholic concoction” a family member made and then at 2 am the kid is overdosing on fentanyl. Doesn’t make sense. The other thing that’s completely alarming is that obviously someone addicted to fentanyl or someone who sells fentanyl was at the house, left some out, and the child somehow ingested it. Wouldn’t anyone have noticed the 8-year-old was under the influence of something? Clearly, this child lacked any level of supervision and was not only allowed to drink alcohol but somehow took drugs as well, whether on purpose or accidental.
This is just another sad, sad story of what drugs are doing to our society. Now our children are dying, and not just our grown children, but little kids now as young as 8 years old. Parents need to be very careful about who they leave their children with. Sometimes, even leaving them with family isn’t safe. Because drugs are so prevalent in our society we need to be more careful than ever with the company we keep. Hopefully, no other family will ever have to go through something like this, but the sad thing is that many families will go through this, probably tonight. That’s the rate people are dying from drugs like fentanyl. If you or anyone you know needs help, get them into treatment now before catastrophe hits your family.
