Addicted to Painkillers and 'Out of Options'

Even members of the Municipal Alliance, a coalition that implements programs to assist in the prevention of alcohol and drug abuse, are not immune from the grip addiction has on the community.

Heather Scanlon’s son was 25 when the family realized and confronted his drug addiction.

“I thought we were home free,” she said. In high school he was a member of the National Honor Society and he earned a college degree, receiving good grades.

Scanlon has been the Municipal Alliance Coordinator for more than a decade, a member of the coalition since its inception in 1990, and as a member of the Parent Teacher Association, she was always active in addiction awareness.

“So I’ve always done this, that’s the irony,” she said. “It doesn’t matter how much you know, you still get fooled by your own kid.”

Signs weren’t so prevalent with her son, she said. But eventually she began to notice loose cash was missing, he had a heap of credit card debt, blew a $50,000 inheritance in seven months and her husband's painkillers following a surgery had gone missing.

“I had blinders on,” she said. “I was really shocked.”

He had been addicted to painkillers such as Percocet.

He didn’t experiment much in high school, although Scanlon and her husband Ed new he had drank before. It was in college when he began his road to addiction.

“It was the thing to do. He figured when we found out, he would stop,” Scanlon said.

He scoffed the idea of attending a program for addicts but then a week later he was in the hospital for gangrenous and had to have his gallbladder removed.

“He was doing a lot of damage to his body,” Scanlon said.

Scanlon encouraged her son to use Suboxone, a prescription drug to treat opiate addiction. He sold the Suboxone to buy more pills.

“We were hopeful he wasn’t using,” she said.

Three months later, they knew he was. He had been charged with possession after a motor vehicle stop.

“As a parent, that was one of the hardest things for me, when you have to look your kid in the eye and call him a liar,” she said.

The charge would be his second as he had been caught on the boardwalk with marijuana before, an incident Scanlon was not initially aware of.

But this time it was different, she said.

“He had to deal with the court system,” she said. “As a mother, it was one of my saddest days but it was also one of my proudest days. He knew he was out of options.”

Following the arrest, he went to rehab. He has now been clean for five years.

Scanlon’s son entered rehab just one month prior to the death of Allyson Joyce, another Lacey Township High School graduate. Joyce died due to an overdose.

“I felt guilty because my son lived,” Scanlon said. “It could be me.”

By being a part of the Municipal Alliance, Scanlon knew what steps to take.

“But he had to be ready to do it,” she said. “Sometimes they have to fall hard.”

The last five years have been a challenge and Scanlon's son continues a 12-step program, as there is an 85 percent relapse rate.

“He now lives a very healthy lifestyle,” Scanlon said, adding that he runs competitively, which is common among addicts.

Scanlon recommends talking to children early on, and although that may not prevent addiction, it could delay it.

“The chances of recovery are much better than if they start real young,” she said.

She likened it to when parents teach their young children how to cross the street.

“You still need to be on guard as they’re older,” she said. “It just confirms that it can happen to anybody. At least my son is here. There are a lot of parents that don’t have kids here anymore.”

In keeping with the anonymity of his 12-step program, Scanlon's son declined to comment.