Drug abuse in rural communities: 'It's everywhere'

 Carbonear and the surrounding area are no different from any other rural part of the province when it comes to dealing with drug abuse, say some recovering addicts and the people who support them. (Heather Barrett/CBC)

By Heather Barrett, CBC News  

Addicts and those who help them say IV drugs are available in every community no matter how big or small

   Underneath the idyllic exteriors of Carbonear and the surrounding communities in Conception Bay North, there are people living with serious drug addiction issues, according to local recovering addicts and the people who work with them.
   Andrea, the mother of a teenager who is battling an addiction to painkillers, said hard drugs are available near the local schools.
   "The drug dealers go in there and wait for the kids to come out on recess and lunch and they can buy whatever they want. The pills and the coke, everything."

   Andrea said her neighbours, who have younger children, have run into signs of illegal drug use.

    "There's a local sliding area, they had their small children out sliding," Andrea said of her neighbours.

   "When they looked at the bottom of the hill, there were dirty syringes and needles in the children's sliding area."
   "I find that opiates are the drug of choice in this area, definitely," said Renee, a woman in her early 20s who is recovering from several years addicted to cocaine and opiates.

    "It breaks my heart to think that IV use has become such a big thing out here. Because once you get into that, your chances of getting out of it are so much lower."...Read more>>http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/drug-abuse-in-rural-communities-it-s-everywhere-1.3417603