Sunday, November 25, 2007

This Is No Joke

"This is no joke. People are dying," a Breakthrough staff member told me. Every once in a while God reminds me why the work of Breakthrough is so important. Today is one of those days. I learned that a friend of ours died a few months ago. The word is that he died of a heart attack, but those of us who knew him know that he was using drugs again. Now he's gone.

Our parks have become a testing ground for new mixes of drug chemicals. Neighborhood addicts know they can hang out in the parks and get drugs for free. The pushers are competing to claim that their dope gives the latest, best high. To test new products they hand them out in the park. It's like Russian Roulette for the addicts. They might get the best high ever, or no high at all, or they might die. They are dying. They die quietly of heart attacks and strokes. They don't make the papers or the nightly news. One would think that no one really cares. Is there any hope? Does anyone really care? Breakthrough is a lifeline. Our work must grow.

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