Opioid Addiction Rages on in Appalachia — Despite Trump Admin Promises to Fix It

Opioid addiction rages on in Appalachia — despite Trump admin promises to fix it

In her new book, "The Nature of Pain: Roots, Recovery, and Redemption Amid the Opioid Crisis," author and Kentucky native Mandi Fugate Sheffel describes her recovery from addiction and the opioid struggles that continue to plague Appalachia. Sheffel also describes those struggles in an article published by Salon on October 11."I want to write about the first time I did a pill," Sheffel explains. "It was a turning point, one of those things you'l…

Opioids ravaged Appalachia. I'm one of the survivors

I want to write about the first time I did a pill. It was a turning point, one of those things you’ll think you’ll never forget. But I can’t. I don’t remember. I don’t remember any of my first-time meetings with drugs except for OxyContin.  It was my junior year of high school and OxyContin was showing up everywhere, in the hallways at school, parties on the weekend and in medicine cabinets all over central Appalachia. I was with my cousin Eric,…