"We all kind of got out of the town and got away from everything and he just stayed."

Description

Nicole So, who did you lose due to substance abuse?
Amber: um so I actually have two different types of stories but, um so I lost my high school best friends to drug overdose and I also have one of my best friends he’s a recovering addict.
Nicole: ok, um so how did you lose this person to substance abuse?
Amber: um so I guess it started in high school um I had like a very close group of friends and um they all started distancing themselves from a couple of the other kids because they were like experimenting the pills and stuff like that. So, then I left for college and um he continued using drugs and getting more involved in the opioids and everything, so he moved to Florida to enter rehab and while he was there he ended up getting addicted to heroin and overdosing.
Nicole: Okay, um, were there any signs of the issues?
Amber: um definitely like people knew he was on drugs but I don’t think people really realized how much of an issue it was because he was like, we stayed in contact throughout my college years but um he always seemed a little bit off when we talked, like we would just say weird things and it just didn’t make sense.
Nicole: How has this changed/affected you and your family?
Amber: um for me it kind of really changed my mindset because like I said with my friend that’s a recovering addict its actually my best friends boyfriend so when they started dating we were all kind of confused at the time and really against it and didn’t really understand the issue so then like a month into the relationship is when my best friend overdosed and that kind of just fueled my passion for criminal justice and I ended up going back to school and getting a second bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and right now I’m currently working with Partnership of Youth Success out of the prosecutor’s office and that means at like stuff like Streets of Treatment Program and Juvenile Delinquency and Drug use.
Nicole: was drug use common in this person’s family?
Amber: drug use wasn’t common, but drinking was.
Nicole: who has been affected the most by this tragedy?
Amber: I’d say probably his family like our group of friends from high school because it was kind of just like a shock and we all kind of got out of the town and got away from everything and he just stayed.
Nicole: what do you believe could be taught to children in order to inform them to not do drugs?
Amber: Um, I think it’s really just about educating them at a young age and don’t think the DARE Programs and stuff are really that useful and helpful. I think that um they need to hear from like the families and the people actually affected by it and like understand the risks.
Nicole: thank you so much
Amber: you’re welcome, have a good one

Participants

• Amber Barcliff
  
• nicturner65
  

Interview By

• nicturner65