Written by: Officer Jermaine Galloway
As we head into late summer / back to school, and as communities open, there is a lot to be said about what to expect surrounding drugs trends. Before we dive into that, we need roll the clock back a few months. As we all navigated through isolation, lack of face-to-face contact (including masks), changes at school and work, and difficulty providing care for those suffering -- this all affected what we saw (or really DID NOT SEE) in the drug world. Basically, if you are suffering from addiction, isolation is one of the worst things to experience. Now, we head back into schools and communities on the heels of all this. What can we expect? We should be expecting and preparing for all the drug issues that never left and, more than likely, increased during the past year. From vapes, to opioids, to various drug use…. we will quickly see the signs of what increased use looks like. As schools navigate post covid procedures, they should also be discussing a possible increase in drug use due to increased addiction. Communities will also need to be having the same discussions due to the same issues. As we continue to talk mental health, we must continue to talk drug addiction.