Recovering addict pushes treatment plan after another suspected overdose in La Porte
After another suspected overdose death in La Porte this week, one recovering addict is advocating for a treatment plan he says works.
“You get caught in this fishing line, it wraps you up, and sometimes you feel like you have no way out,” said recovering addict Eric England.
England got hooked after being treated for an injury when he was 15.
“Torn both my rotator cuffs in my shoulders, and I was prescribed some painkillers…and the recovery time was relatively fast, but I liked the way it felt,” he said.
Three others in La Porte died for that feeling in one weekend in February.
“Good friend of mine. 19 years old. Given some bad stuff, and it killed him,” said Eric.
Tuesday afternoon, officers found a man dead in his car right outside of the La Porte County Courthouse.
He had an uncapped needle sitting on the seat between his legs.
Officials believe his death was caused by an overdose, which would bring the total to four in three weeks.
Eric says he found a solution.
“The one thing that I have done that has successfully made my mind change that you know to where I didn’t even think about getting high or doing any kind of drugs was when I was on methadone. And, I just remember it specifically, because there were no cravings at all,” he said.
England says some addicts say it’s just swapping one addiction for another.
Eric disagrees.
“You don’t get high off it. It lasts 36 hours. There are no cravings. It’s a very controlled environment,” he said.
He says the biggest barrier is the distance.
“Another thing that goes hand in hand with people who are on drugs is they don’t have cars. They don’t have the transportation to get back and forth,” said England.
The two closest methadone clinics to La Porte are 23 miles away in Valparaiso and 23 miles away in South Bend.
It would take eight hours to walk to either place.
“So, if you don’t have a vehicle, you’re not getting there,” said Eric.