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2:24
Suspect arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two girls...
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0:25
Humane Society of St. Joseph County holds microchip clinic
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2:58
Pulaski County Community Foundation provides support for childcare...
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3:14
Green wave of economic growth in Michigan from marijuana dispensaries
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1:28
Brisk, breezy but beautiful weekend
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0:48
University Park Mall holding parking-lot carnival this week
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1:52
While the rain is over, the cooling temperatures are not
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2:28
Public forum hosted by John Glenn High School students
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3:34
Kickoff preview with ABC57’s Allison Hayes
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0:57
Completion of Martin Luther King Jr. Dream Center one step closer
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0:36
Niles High School students network with local professionals
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3:59
Political group asks Indiana Democrats to vote in Republican...
An addiction is when a person cannot voluntarily give up doing drugs or alcohol and a lot of the times it’s because of the high.
Brooke Marshall is an addiction therapist with Oaklawn and the St. Joseph County Jail Program
“Methamphetamine is an upper…opiates are downers so it's a much different high,” says Marshall.
For opioid users, experts say it’s about avoiding or numbing pain and it’s usually taken less for recreational or social reasons and more about self-medication.
It changes the way users think, feel and even their physical sensations, as the dopamine floods the brain.
Dawn Brauneker is a recovering meth addict who says all it took was the first hit for her to fall in love with the drug.
“It gave me the ability to function and do everything I had to do, but not feel any feelings. That’s what I was always trying to escape from, the feelings,” says Brauneker.
Long exposure to both of the drugs can cause heart problems and even death. Using opioids regularly can cause insomnia, and meth can often lead to seizures.