Union County Stories

Justin

I began working in law enforcement in 2016 fresh out of high school. I’ve dealt with the police in vastly different scenarios throughout my whole life. My first recollection of one of those encounters was indirectly caused by my family’s addiction to opioids. I have seen everything the lifestyle had to offer and to call it miserable for everyone involved hardly scratches the surface.

A good portion of the people I knew from my childhood have died from overdoses. This is a reality that people don’t take seriously enough. I live and work for a small town where everyone knows everybody, and it’s not uncommon to hear that someone has passed or even fortunate enough to receive Narcan reviving them from an overdose.

We work tirelessly day and night to get the drugs off the streets, but more often than not it starts at home. Unfortunately, we can’t be everywhere all the time. Education and rehabilitation need to be at the forefront of our fight back against opioids.