AHS Views

Here is the heartbreaking story of a man whose 17-year-old son died from a drug overdose. The boy, Harrison, was the model kid. He and his dad had great rapport, they had a great family, but Harrison took a prescription painkiller, the same kind that are in the medicine cabinets of 10s of millions of homes across America and, when he mixed it with a common cold medicine he was taking, it killed him. He had apparently been taking the painkillers to get high. No one knew about it, and no one made sure he got the addiction help he needed. Had they done so, he would be alive today.

Harrison’s dad says that the problem is that people just don’t understand the dangers of these drugs. They realize that someone taking illegal drugs is in danger and wouldn’t even hesitate to get them addiction help, they don’t realize that a kid, or an adult, taking prescription painkillers that come from a doctor could actually kill you - especially when combined with other drugs (yes, including other prescription drugs), or with alcohol.

Harrison obviously had a problem his parents didn’t know about. It’s clear from the article written by his father that they would have made sure he got the addiction help he needed. How many other parents are out there in the same situation? You can be that with 2,500 kids trying prescription drugs every day for the first time - to get high - it’s i the millions. And millions are at risk.

If you think someone in your family may be at risk, or already know they are, call Addiction Help Services. They can help you figure out what to do about it.