The South Shore boasts an abundance of beaches, oceanfront homes and cranberry bogs. But beyond that beautiful facade lurks a dark epidemic. A recent Patriot Ledger review of deaths in over a dozen South Shore towns reveals a high number of deaths from drug overdoses. It's being called an epidemic that's leaving broken families — and broken hearts — in its wake.
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On a beautiful sunny day in the peninsula town of Hull, Mass., Ann McCullough sits in a lawn chair on her front porch overlooking the calm bay. She describes the last time she saw her son. "I had seen him in the parking lot that day, and he said to me, 'It's too late, Mom.' And I begged him to come and get help, and he just kept saying, 'It's too late, it's too late.' And a month later, he was gone."
A drug that makes the body scream
McCullough's son Jeffrey Sobczak, 42, died in the grip of drugs, despite the decades she spent trying to help him overcome addiction. He spent years in and out of treatment, but nothing stopped his downward spiral. "It went from pot to cocaine, from crack to Oxycontin, and then the combination of crack, cocaine and Oxycontin,” McCullough explains. "He knew it was over. He knew that the body was giving out, and he knew that he couldn't control it anymore. You know, I think that Oxycontin is probably the worst of all drugs, because it really does lie to them. It does. It’s an opiate, so it does make the body scream for more and more."
McCullough knows that scream. She herself struggled with substance abuse, and dedicated her life to helping strangers overcome addiction. But all her efforts and expertise weren’t enough to save her own son. "That was the hard part,” she laments. “That was the hard part. I would work with young people, and I would see some of them get sober and straight, and it would give me hope that maybe I could reach him. Or maybe someone else could reach him ..."
An increase in the numbers
McCullough’s heartbreak is just one among many. A recent Patriot Ledger analysis of 13 South Shore communities showed almost 130 drug deaths in a 2-year period. It’s an alarming trend, and those involved in the field, from drug counselors to law enforcement officers, have taken notice. "We have children 15, 16 years old that are addicted to substances. And then on the other end of the scale, we have people in their 50s and 60' that are addicted to substances,” says Lt. Detective Patrick Glynn, who heads the Quincy Police Drug Unit. Glynn has over 20 years on the beat and says the real problem is how cheap and widely available drugs have become. "When I first started, a bag of heroin was approximately $20, and now, years later, $3 to $5 for a single dose. So it's significantly cheaper."
Those cheap prices exact a heavy toll — leading to easy addiction and high crime. In Quincy, Glynn explains, "We average anywhere between 300 and 375 arrests from the drug unit specifically alone. So those people that are being arrested on drugs, we could probably quadruple that with the collateral crime."
Quincy police do have some tools at their disposal. Narcan is a nasal spray that can reverse a fatal overdose if administered in time. In the last 18 months, Narcan has been used 97 times and has saved 95 lives. And a handheld device called TruNarc can quickly identify a drug, making it easier to arrest dealers.
But Glynn says no gadget will eliminate the constant wave of drugs. "Maybe we can stop some of those waves from coming in and hopefully have a breather. But to say what is going to stop it, I don't know. There aren't enough beds in treatment facilities throughout society."
The impact of drug overdose
It's that uphill battle against drug addiction that Mike Mullen and Marilyn Werkheiser are willing to undertake. When Jake Hayden, a popular high school graduate, died of a drug overdose in 2011, the two Rockland School Committee members heard their call to arms. Mullen, who himself isn’t much older than Hayden, describes the shock that reverberated through town, "There was a lot of anger just built up, because you know, so many of our classmates, so many of our neighbors and friends over the years have been obviously battling this epidemic and addiction issue."
The small town of Rockland has lost 20 people to drugs in 5 years — and Hayden’s death was a tipping point. Town people knew Hayden and his family, and to Werkheiser, who herself has a son around Hayden’s age, the death touched people across generations. She discovered people wanted to talk about what was happening. "The more you talk about it, the more you find out that this person, or that person, also has traveled that path. Or they know someone who has. And they can be more supportive to you. That was my big thing,” she says. So one day, over food at a local Chinese restaurant, Werkheiser and Mullen started to draw a blueprint on their paper napkins for what would become Rockland CARES.
The fight against substance abuse
Rockland CARES, which stands for Community, Awareness, Resources, Education and Support, started as a one-time vigil in front of the public library and developed into a support and information group for people seeking help. Much of the impetus came from Werkheiser, who wished she had a support network when she was caring for a relative fighting addiction.
"This young woman [was a] wonderful, wonderful person, but she lost everything. Her children, her home. Everything," Werkheiser explains. During one crisis, Werkheiser took her relative to the emergency room. The experience left her frustrated: "I brought her to the hospital, and for 3 days we stayed in a room — in the emergency room. I thought she was admitted. I later found out she wasn't. It was just a holding cell, basically. “
Werkheiser felt isolated and had no idea where to turn. She also perceived judgment from the caregivers towards the addict. "They didn't know what my relationship was with her. Many of them, I'm sure, assumed I was her mother. I really felt like they were looking at me thinking, 'You got her to this point. What did you do wrong? How did you parent poorly?'"
Building a support network
She now wants to prevent others from feeling judged. She and Rockland CARES are organizing a Week of Hope in October 2012. They have several events planned, including an appearance by former Celtic Chris Herren, who has publicly recounted his battle with addiction. They will conclude their week with a vigil. Instead of a traditional memorial vigil, they hope for a positive experience, where people can openly talk about their experiences and provide uplift for each other along the difficult journey.
"If we can make it OK for people to stand up and say 'I'm dealing with this,'” explains Werkheiser, “The more we can do that, the better off we are going to be."
Ann McCullough, who lost her son in 2008, is trying to help others in her own way.
"You know, you have three children, and each one has a piece of your heart, and now, one is empty,” she says, deliberating each word as she fights away the tears, “But I hope that my son won't have died in vain, that in his death we'll be able to help someone else. Another mother, another father, another sister or brother or the addict themselves."
