They lost sons to addiction. Now they’re pushing for needle exchange to go beyond Miami

Losing a loved one is painful enough. But it is more painful if you can’t get justice for them. When you lose someone to drugs, how would you be able to get justice? Especially if it was their own choice that led them to addiction? Losing a precious life just one thing that drugs can do. Before it leads to death, it can make a person suffer in different ways. No other people would even know such pain than the mothers of those who lost their lives to drugs.

Two mothers who lost their sons to addiction is now pushing for needle exchange to go beyond Miami. Two mothers, who both lost sons to a drug overdose on the streets of Miami, now fight to save other families from the very same heartache. Cindy Dodds and Joy Fishman are both advocates working to expand Florida’s needle exchange program.

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Seven colorful painted bricks lie at the base of an oak tree next to a cracked sidewalk and empty lot in Overtown, a tree adorned with a white cross in memory of a man claimed by addiction there 2 1/2 years ago. The monument is weathered, three of its bricks fractured. They bear the man’s name: Kyle Dodds.

In 2016, the 24-year-old was on his way to work when he stopped to buy drugs near the oak tree. He snorted the drugs on the spot and died before he even made it back to his car, killed by a lethal mix of heroin and synthetic opioids.

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Preventing drug addiction could start with teens

Teenage addiction is a serious problem that needs an immediate solution. The number rises so fast that it seems like it’s so difficult to keep up. A lot of teenagers today are very daring to try drugs and a lot end up getting addicted to it. For a long time now, drug addiction and getting out of it has always been a struggle. Many have tried- there are those who failed while others were able to make it through.

In Clarence Middle School Today at Clarence Middle School more than 350 students heard stories from drug addicts themselves about the dangers and the struggles they face. Clarence Town Justice and Drug Court Director Mike Powers had the idea to put the addicts in front of the students to make more of an impact.

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“I bring some of my drug court kids out to speak to these students one on one up close and personal,” Powers explained. “I have found over the years with a lot of the programs I have done that the most effective speakers are the [drug court] kids… kids get tired of hearing adults tell them what they can and can’t do.”

One of the drug addicts that told his story was named Kevin. He started using alcohol and marijuana when he was in his early teens and became addicted. Now, decades later, he’s finally clean and he’s sharing his story with these teens.

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How running ‘helped me to reach my clean Sundays’

It’s a known fact that exercise greatly contributes to our health. In fact, it is highly recommended that aside from eating healthy, we all need to exercise to have a balanced and healthy life. But aside from this, it is so amazing that it can also help those who are suffering from addiction. Here is a man who can attest that exercise, specifically running has helped him reach “clean Sundays”.

Ronnie, from Glasgow, is a former addict who has used running as a tool to help him towards recovery. Similarly, Iain Murphy has found inspiration through running to help him in his battle with alcohol. Both men feel the challenge and peace of mind they have gained from exercise has helped them turn their lives around.

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Ronnie is a recovering drug addict who runs regularly because it makes him feel “alive”.

At three weeks clean he started running while attending a Glasgow rehab centre and from struggling to run one mile within six months he was running 13.

“I ran the Great Scottish Run half marathon and my time was 1:46:50,” he says.

“I was buzzing, a natural high, I did not know you could feel like that without drugs.”

The natural high of running was different to the one he had been seeking since he was 11 years old.

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