It often comes up just how devastated by chronic drug use my area of West Virginia is. I realize there is probably no place in our country that isn’t damaged by the opioid epidemic and that the Gettysburg/Hanover area has its share of tragedies (I’ve had two acquaintances die in the last four months or so.), but you really can’t fathom how much greater it is in an area with higher unemployment, fewer prospects, and less education.
True, this documentary is set in Huntington, which is 50 miles from Charleston, where Becky and I lived and worked and where the situation isn’t quite as bad, but the whole area is just eaten up with it. If I’m not mistaken, there is a string of five counties just south of Charleston, which are the five worst counties in the nation when it comes to opioid deaths per capita.
Heroine(e), this Netflix documentary that details the efforts of three women on the front lines of this battle (one of whom is the first female fire chief in U. S. History), is sad to watch, but it’s also an important cautionary tale, and the work these women are doing is inspirational.
It will certainly give you pause and possibly make you more cautious about what you’re prescribed if you throw your back out at work or have knee replacement surgery.
Sadly, there are people who have died, ultimately, because of situations no more dire than those.
The documentary only runs 39 minutes, only a wee smidgen of time to spend to learn a bit more about what is being done in the face of this devastating national epidemic.
Much love, beautiful people. Take care of yourselves.
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