NO ONE IMMUNE FROM DRUG ADDICTION

I was recently asked to come and speak to a group of young men who were
incarcerated for various offenses involving OxyContin. I was chosen because
I lost a son to this killer drug.

Our area is no stranger to the increase of burglaries, thefts, robberies and
even death attributed to this killer "Hillbilly Heroin."

My one-hour time allotment turned into two-plus hours. It was time well
spent.

As I spoke, I tried to convey to them that my son was loved, nurtured and
had any material things that any person would want. However, he was not
immune to the same substances that afflicted them.

My son spent several years in and out of different correctional units and
yet he joined up with these same temptations every time he was released. I
let them know that their so-called friends would be waiting to connect with
them once they stepped back into the real world.

Most of the inmates were fathers, as was my son. I also tried to stress upon
them that their parents, children, spouses/mates and other family members
were the ones that were suffering. To convey this point, I took pictures of
my son from childhood until death. These photographs helped to show them how
a person changes once hooked.

One young man approached me afterward and said that his brother knew my son
because they were inmates together at Huttonsville Correctional Center. I
told him to make sure and tell his brother what had happened to my son. He
told me he would like to be able to, but his brother was also dead.

It is my hope that my story can save each of these men. Then maybe they can
turn around and save someone else.

William Dalton

Princeton