Mom’s life turns into hell when husband, son become addicts

Vicki's husband went through years of addiction before becoming clean. Years later, after their son became an addict, the dad was back to using drugs. (Burlingham/Getty Images/iStockphoto) Alicia Palermo-Reddy NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Monday, July 17, 2017, 11:54 PM Vicky had been through a lot by the time she told me her story. Her son Tom was addicted to heroin. His father, Walt, was an addict, too. Vicky and Walt had been together since high school — long enough that, when he started taking drugs, she stuck with him, which meant living through a yearslong cycle of addiction, crisis, detox and rehab. She got him clean, and he stayed that way for years. He was clean when they had Tom — a sweet, funny, smart kid who made it to his junior year in high school before weekend flings with prescription opioids became an addiction to heroin, which turned her [...]

January 24th, 2018|

‘Addiction angel’ Alicia Palermo-Reddy shares harrowing stories of opioid addiction

Alicia Palermo-Reddy has helped hundreds of families dealing with opioid addiction. (FabrikaCr/Getty Images/iStockphoto) Alicia Palermo-Reddy, a Staten Island nurse, is known as the "addiction angel" for helping hundreds of families dealing with opioid addiction. These are stories of two of the people she's encountered. 'Erin' It was two years ago when I got the first call from Nicole. She was worried about her 15-year-old sister, who was using drugs and behaving strangely. Her parents were at a loss, and I asked Nicole to have them call me. When they didn't, I wasn't surprised. I wasn't surprised either when I heard from Nicole a second time. Her sister Erin, now 17, had overdosed on heroin and was found unconscious on the bathroom floor. First responders saved her life, and Nicole convinced her parents they had to call me. They had to act before it was too late. I worked with them [...]

January 24th, 2018|

Addiction Angel Organization Empowers Those Struggling With Addiction

The Addiction Angel Organization knows that the heroin epidemic has made its mark all over the country, and one place the mounting rates of death as a result of the heroin epidemic has made plenty of headlines is the state of New York. At one point reports showed that New York experienced more deaths due to heroin overdose than from homicide, while across the country some statics have shown that the overdose death rate has quadrupled in recent years. Staten Island in New York is among one of the hardest hit communities statewide, with record numbers of overdose deaths resulting from the heroin epidemic. State officials and law enforcement agencies everywhere are beginning to revolutionize the methods they use to effectively address the heroin epidemic in their areas, with more compassionate programs being initiated with the intention of supporting those who struggle most. As heroin and opiate addiction has become [...]

October 21st, 2016|

Staten Island Heroin Crisis

Staten Island — The heroin epidemic on Staten Island is rapidly spreading through the entire area. There have been nine deaths in 10 days including three over the weekend. There have been 70 heroin-related deaths in 2016. The Staten Island District Attorney says it's a middle-class problem. "It started with the painkillers and then it moved to heroin in Middle America," Michael McMahon, Staten Island District Attorney told PIX11. "And Staten Island is more like Middle America that the four other boroughs." McMahon showed PIX11 a map of all the suspected heroin overdose deaths so far this year on Staten Island. The neighborhoods they've occurred in from Rose Bank to New Dorp and Tottenville. McMahon says it's not necessarily a bad batch of heroin, just a stronger variety that is causing these deaths. "The heroin we are seeing is coming from Mexico, 60, 70, 80 percent," McMahon said. "And it [...]

October 19th, 2016|Tags: , , , , , , |

Staten Island Addiction Treatment

Staten Island Addiction and addiction all over the country has been increasing steadily from the 1990s. The largest killers were the narcotic drugs, prescription narcotic pain killers, cocaine and heroin. These drugs accounted for nearly half of the deaths in this particular study. Poisoning deaths, of which drug poisoning accounts for about 95%, now run behind only auto accidents as the leading cause of accidental injury death in the US. The demographics are also interesting. Drug overdose deaths are twice as common in men as in women meaning about 2/3 of these deaths. The highest rates are in the age group between 35 and 54 years of age, accounting for about 60% of all the poisoning deaths in the year 2004. The study also found the rates among white people rising much faster than in blacks while rates among Hispanics went up much less than among non-Hispanics. Among American Indian Alaska [...]

October 17th, 2016|

Battling Addiction

We care about people battling addiction because of the feeling of hopelessness, and despair they undergo. All of us have commitments to fulfill in life, and we should all strive in this excellence by helping others, including those battling addictions. I interviewed about 8 people who were on their road to recovery from addiction. I also used discussion forums to get some of these ideas. From my findings, I came to realize that most people in the society partly blame people with addiction problems and others do not think it as a problem that should be shared by all societal members. Individuals in the addition network requires all the help they can get, when it comes from members of the society it carries more weight given that some of our actions contribute to their addiction problems. You must change the way you think to change your life, this paves way [...]

October 11th, 2016|

Addict Misconceptions

  Addicts are Lazy People. Addicts may appear lazy but they aren't always lazy people. They are normally very encouraged to satisfy their cravings. It actually takes  a large quantity of energy to plan and ensure there suffices of the drug through the remainder of the day and for tomorrow and the day after that. Whether it is making certain you have computer system access for pornography or that you have enough alcohol allocated out for the next day. Planning to get and allocate your drug to make sure you have enough of it, while concealing it from those around you, takes a lot of effort. When an addict becomes sober, they are quite surprised to discover a lot of leisure time and do not know ways to utilize it due to the fact that it has actually always been taken in by addicting behaviors. This is why it is very [...]

October 7th, 2016|

Staten Island Substance Abuse

Staten Island substance abuse is a growing menace in the New York area. Anyone can be a victim of it, disregarding age, gender and ethnicity. Substance abuse can be broadly defined as the situation in which the use of a substance causes a detrimental effect on the physical and mental condition of an individual. Further, substance abuse can also have devastating effect on the financial, social and even legal standing in the society of a person. The 'substance' in substance abuse can be almost anything. It can be either legal or illegal. Even the non prescribed use of prescriptive medicines has and can be termed as substance abuse. In cases of substance abuse, injections, inhaling and oral usage of the substance is common. However, sniffing and smoking of the said substance is also seen in some cases.           Drug Addiction in Staten Island Maybe the most [...]

September 30th, 2016|

Staten Island Heroin Abuse

Addiction to pain killers is running rampant in the state of New York and has resulted in the recent explosion of Staten Island heroin abuse. Heroin importation has dramatically increased over the past decade. Heroin is cheaper than prescription opioids and has similar physical effects on the user. Many patients who are no longer able to obtain prescription pain killers from a legitimate medical practitioner will simply turn to heroin to avoid withdrawal symptoms and relieve pain.      Heroin In Staten Island, NY Heroin is a drug that is both extremely illegal and very very addictive. It comes from opium from the poppy plant before it is refined to morphine, then further changed chemically to become heroin. Despite its extremely bad reputation for an easy overdose, heroin continues to be a commonly abused drug in Staten Island, NY. Heroin is sold and used in a number of forms including white or brown powder, a [...]

Drug Abuse and Addiction in the USA

Drug abuse is on the rise in the United States but most people are unaware of the scale of this. We have now officially reached epidemic proportions! Why has drug abuse and drug addiction achieved epidemic levels in the USA? Let's look at how people head down this path, see what the causes are, briefly review the substances, and see what can be done about this. Every person that tries drugs for the first time never does this planning to become an addict. He or she takes this leap due to peer pressure at social events or see it as a route to escape from mental or physical pain, hurt and suffering. The reason first timers are at risk of becoming addicts is due to the ‘wow I feel good’ factor attached to drugs. They immediately lead to a feeling of joy, happiness, even ecstasy. This calls for more experimentation, [...]

September 12th, 2016|