@@ -1,1 +1,1 @@ - +At the height of addiction: Andi Peterson from Weber County spent a year in jail on drug related charges <br>The first time Andi Peterson tried prescription opiates, she was 16-years-old. <br>Two years later, the Weber County native was prescribed Percocet by a doctor which led to a drug spiral, costing her the custody of her son.<br>A  report chronicles Peterson's journey from taking prescription opiates for the first time to her addition to heroin.<br>The story is all too familiar for many Americans who suffer from opiate addiction. <br>At 16, Peterson tried Lortab which was given to her by her friend before she even drank alcohol.<br>She found the pill helped with her social anxiety and caused her to relax.<br>She tried opiates again two years later because she trusted her doctor. She was prescribed Percocet after her emergency C-section for her son when she was 18.<br> RELATED ARTICLES <br><br><br><br>Share this article<br>Share<br><br><br>Once again, she discovered it made her feel good, but it was expensive.<br>At the suggestion of her boyfriend, the Wal-Mart employee tried what she saw as the cheaper alternative: heroin.<br>She told Business Insider: 'It didn't seem like a big deal to me then. I was naive. I didn't know all the [https://www.tumblr.com/search/consequences consequences] that it would lead to. It just made me feel good. Normal.'<br> Three years of sobriety: Andi Peterson appearance and health transformed after being sober for three years<br>Suburbs like Weber County were lousy with painkillers so it made sense for drug dealers to get in on this market and offer clients cheaper alternatives.<br>The dealers would also help clients not feel like addicts by offering delivery and prioritizing customer service.  <br>In the book 'Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic,' author Sam Quinones wrote: 'Guys from Xalisco had figured out that what white people — especially middle-class white kids — want most is service, convenience.' <br><br>After six months, [https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peterson%20confessed Peterson confessed] to her parents her addiction to the drug after her father noticed her twitchy behavior.<br> Naloxone is a nasal spray that  helps save people who are overdosing on  heroin<br>She wanted to get clean but it would take her years. Opiates rewire addicts' brains to constantly crave the substance. <br>Peterson would also spend a year in prison and lose custody of her son. She would finally get clean after failing out of a treatment center once. She also had a wake up call when she watched someone overdose.<br>The heroin epidemic was a major talking point in the 2016 election. Journalist has documented the opioid crisis and noted that President Trump won wherever there was heavy drug addiction, especially to opiates. <br>President Trump famously won the New Hampshire Republican primary which has a severe opiate problem which included swing states. In September, 24 people suffered heroin overdoses in a single night in Akron, Ohio as the state battles a drug epidemic.<br>The UN reported heroin usage had reached a 20 year high in June. <br>Heroin deaths nationwide rose 23 per cent in 2016, to 12,989, [https://dekamusic.ru настройка гитары онлайн] slightly higher than the number of gun homicides, according to government data released yesterday.<br>The total number of gun deaths - which included suicides and accidents <br><br> <br><br><br><br><br>data-track-module="am-external-links^external-links"><br>Read more:<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>DM.later('bundle', function()<br>DM.has('external-source-links', 'externalLinkTracker');<br>);