THE PANIC (fiction.., or is it)

“I used to think a drug addict was someone who lived on the far edges of society. Wild-eyed, shaven-headed and living in a filthy squat. That was until I became one...” -- Cathryn Kemp

THE PANIC...

There was no time for fairytales.., life had grown hard and cold. That house in the country with the one you love, was not even a far off dream anymore -- it was as if it never existed… Maybe it was another lifetime you were thinking about -- remembering… But now.., now you were alone, no matter how many people were around -- you never new a life could feel so alone. It's not so hard to imagine once you get a taste of that warm fluid seeping through your veins, finding its way to parts of your body you never felt before…

It was like the 1970's all over again.., the streets were bursting at the seams with the walking dead… People that just months ago had goals and aspirations, wanted to make a difference, were now scrambling around like rats in the gutter, praying for that little taste just to get straight -- feel connected to something. It was an epidemic that could no longer be ignored, now that it had infiltrated every part of society.., now that they had to take responsibility for the destruction of so many lives -- lives that had no idea what was waiting for them at the end of a needle, but were now at it's mercy.., only there is no mercy once you cross that line.

There is no coming back from the damage you inflict on yourself.., the pain remains a part of you that you just can't shake off -- it takes over, becomes who you are, by filling the void it created. From the toniest parts of town, to the street corners and back alleys where you'd expect it -- it had transcended the prejudices it was once known for and laid to waste anyone in its path… The most "honorable" among us were no longer exempt, they were now, in the new age of addiction, even more susceptible -- like sitting ducks, one by one they succumbed to it's false promises...

But unlike the the 1970's.., we didn't import this epidemic from a far off land, it was born inside the offices of the the men and women who had sworn to heal -- to follow a set of ethical standards, to the best of their ability to treat the sick and do no harm… But somewhere along the way many lost site of this oath to Gods, in lieu of a quick buck. No, this deadly epidemic didn't come from a poppy field thousands of miles away, known as the "Golden Triangle" it sprang and rose up from the prescription pads of those who were entrusted -- never to do so...

As pharmaceutical companies made billions of dollars pushing and creating new painkillers.., women lost their husbands and children became parentless.., all to a drug that had been created in a lab and prescribed by a licensed physician. They had methodically gotten a whole nation -- addicted to a killer, like no other. It was ignored at first, the huge spike in pills being distributed.., maybe thought of as a phase… But by the time they had realized what they had done -- it was too late.

Once the access to pills were gone.., the most unlikely people found themselves in those same dark alleys and street corners, that up until now had been confined to the "typical" drug abuser, the ones on the fringes of society… No, now it was the housewife going out score a dime bag of cheap heroin, the executive sitting in his ivory tower reduced to dealing with, what they used to deem as the scum of the city -- now they were the consumer, the new "typical" drug addict.

It spread through cities across the country, leaving nothing in it's path except the shells of what used to be -- upstanding citizens, as governments everywhere stood by and just watched. How could they do anything -- they were just as culpable as the doctors and drug companies that doled them out to anyone willing to pay the price. Only greed, is very short-sighted.., and blinded by all the dollar signs, it did not see the real price of addiction.., and the epidemic that would destroy so many families…

Ignoring it was no longer an option.., pill mills everywhere were shattered and many "doctors" jailed for the massive failure of the oath they had taken… All but the drug dealers -- I mean drug companies were being squeezed… And left with no other choice to feed their new found addiction.., heroin was back. The drug that was no secret to anyone as being cripplingly addictive, was now the drug of choice -- but any addict knows, they didn't really have a choice.

But soon that supply would dry-up, too -- leaving people everywhere desperate for a fix. Crime sky-rocketed.., and this new breed of junkies were left out in the cold, to do what they had too, to feed their addiction. People lost their homes and were not mentally or physically equipped to deal with a life on the streets, a life that was so far from what they had known… Suicide was know common, whether it was on purpose or just some bad dope, there was no mistaking the fact the CEO's of giant companies were now no different from the picture of a junkie we all have in our minds -- being found dead on regular basis, with nothing but a dirty needle hanging out of their arms.

The world had changed in a way, nobody saw coming… And the only answers they had, cracking down on the supply, shutting down borders, jailing the dealers and users alike, only resulted in more heartache for the affected. Hospitals and rehabilitation centers were over-flowing with our neighbors and their doors shuttered to anyone new seeking help. A plague had broke out and set it's sights on a world that thought it was too smart, to ever find itself in such a demoralizing position.

Nobody was really sure, when the beginning of the end had exactly started.., but there was no mistaking -- the end was near. There was no happy ending to this story, the fairytale was over -- the panic was real.., but there was nothing that could be done -- it had taken on a life of its own. And now life itself was being extinguished one by one...


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