My brother is going to prison for heroin and burglary

[TRUTH281]

My brother Josh finished 2 years of prison for burglary 6 months ago and now has revoked parole, has a burglary of habitation warrant, and got caught with heroin. So he is probably looking at 10-20 years. He is on a dark path but there is good in him but he has a drug addiction and violence in his heart. Please pray for him. I pray the Father would bless each of you who pray for him. I hope it is the Father's plan to draw him to Christ while he is in prison. Thank you.

[Rhys 🕊]

Will be praying for Josh. It does sadden me some of the paths people are on and what they go through. I hope he learns his lesson soon and his sentence won't be too long.

Rhys

[Gina]

I am so sorry for you and your brother, Truth281.  I would be violent too I suppose under those same circumstances.  Why don't they flipping legalize heroin?  I mean is it any different from the oxycodone that is plaguing this nation?  No.  He wouldn't have probably burglarized anyone if he could have gotten what he needed.  (There's a lower rate of heroin use in countries that have legalized it to a certain degree.)  I'm not advocating the use of heroin.  But look at what wikipedia says about its counterpart:

History

Freund and Speyer of the University of Frankfurt in Germany first synthesized oxycodone from thebaine in 1916,[6] a few years after the German pharmaceutical company Bayer had stopped the mass production of heroin due to hazardous use, harmful use, and dependence. It was hoped that a thebaine-derived drug would retain the analgesic effects of morphine and heroin with less dependence. To some extent this was achieved, as oxycodone does not have the same immediate effect as heroin or morphine nor does it last as long.[citation needed]  (Yeah, right.)

. . .


The International Narcotics Control Board estimates that 11.5 tons (23,000 lbs) of oxycodone were manufactured worldwide in 1998;[34] by 2007 this figure had grown to 75.2 tons (150,400 lbs).[34] Of all countries, the United States had the highest total consumption of oxycodone in 2007 at 51.6 tons (103,200 lbs) or 82% of the world total. This translates into over half a billion 80 mg tablets per year.[34] In addition, the U.S. had the highest per capita consumption of oxycodone, followed by Canada in 2006, 2007 and 2008. This makes the consumption of oxycodone in North America (United States and Canada alone) higher than all other countries of the world combined.

These people aren't going to be rehabilitated in prison.  They're being penalized for something they would like to stop.    I could be wrong, but imagine it was the heroin that led to the burglary and the violence.  I bet your brother would have stopped it if he could have.  Great, so now he's going to have to go cold turkey.

I know someone whose son had a skiing accident (or so the story goes) and was given oxycodone in the hospital during his recovery.  Well, the doctors didn't warn him that he might become addicted to it.  (It's highly addictive.)  And so when he was released from the hospital he went through the same withdrawal he'd have gone through coming off heroin ("the sedative for coughs"  ~Bayer Pharmaceuticals)  and he went looking for and found oxycodone.  And he has been in and out of jail for probably the past 5-7 years and his mother can't tell her husband who is not the father of the young man, because he keeps telling her to abandon him (and I can understand that too -- not judging), but she can't just abandon him.  So she goes to work and then sneaks behind her husband's back to see her child in jail. 

It's all so stupid and so sad.

I'm sorry for the rant.  It just makes me want to scream.  I will pray for your brother, Josh.  I will pray for his ease of withdrawal and I will pray for his protection in prison.  I will pray that he gets the help he needs and I will pray that he is appointed the best attorney he can possibly get.   I will pray for the people he burglarized and the people he was violent towards.  And I'll pray for you and your family.

God blesses me abundantly, so no prayers needed for me.  But if you want to I won't tell you not to.  You're a sweet person.

I hope your new job is going well?

[TRUTH281]

Shorty, no it was not the heroin that led to his burglaries. It was pain pills and maybe other drugs. He was doing well as a pipefitter's helper when he got out. He bought a Navigator and then within a week got laid off because the contract work was slowing down and they lay people off. He had to pay for his car so he resorted to selling prescription pain pills and then began eating them which lead to addiction and thieving to pay for his bills. Soon the bills became less relevant than the drugs. No they should not legalize heroin, and oxycodone should not be legal either. Both are poison and cause severe withdrawals. The only way for him to beat this addiction is if the Lord draws him.

[gregorydc]

Truth281,
I will pray for Gods will to be done for your brother, and may He be merciful in his healing of your brother.
Greg

[Ian 155]

Hey Truth,be strong,The Lord your God is a good God, who knows what good plans he has for Josh ?Father you designed Josh I know your perfect will be done - as you take this family thru this.

[darren]

This is one among the many sad stories of addiction. Many people of all walks of life get started on pain pills due to some sort of accident. Doc. gives u pain pills. Soon after some months go by those aren't strong enough. Then the Doc. give you stronger meds. eventually they no longer work. Doc Tells you only thing left is an operation. Here's where it gets tough. Do the opp. Hope it heals the problem. Pray u wont b in such terrible pain afterwords. Some opp. work and the people live a pain free life or  least manageable pain without narcotics.Unfortunately many opps. do not turn out so well. Now Ur layed up for awhile and on pain meds. Now the doc keeps u on Ur meds for awhile, then one day he cuts your meds down and down then cuts u off.  Now Ur hooked, gotta have them or u cant go out and b a productive person. now you have bad quality of life. Here is where some will bite the bullet and go cold turkey or rehab. Maby start finding other docs. that write. Or somewhere down the line end up in prison. For many this will b their fist experience  in a state or federal prison. Going to jail a few times is not like the Penn. Sorry for this long winded reply all I'm trying to say is many times addiction from pain pills start legit. I will most definitely be praying for your brother Josh.

Thanks,
Darren

 
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[TRUTH281]

Thanks everyone. My brother said he prayed the other day and it was the only time in his life when he meant it. He said some Christians were in a group and one was reading Scripture and he said he felt something from it. Hopefully the Lord draws him. He admitted that he can't ever do the pills again. Thank you for all of your prayers.

[Rhys 🕊]

Excellent to hear.

God bless

Rhys

[Gina]

That's good to hear. 

Yes, Darren.  Painkillers/painpills/narcotics are all addictive and typically opiate (heroin) based.   
Truth281, since the painkillers your brother was peddling weren't NSAIDs, like aspirin or ibuprofen, he was basically addicted to heroin --not to sound argumentative.  I know you're going through a tough time.  I'm sorry.

Listen, I was given synthetic morphine in the hospital during my labor with my youngest daughter.  One minute I was depressed and anxious knowing what I had to face.  But as soon as they gave me that morphine, I had not a care in the world and I loved everyone!  In absolute heaven.  Afterwards?  Oh boy.  I requested my doctor give me narcon so I could be "there" for when the time came to put my baby in the arms of her new adoptive parents.  It was the worst withdrawal and I'd only been on the morphine for 2-3 days.  I can totally see why people get hooked on heroin/opiate painkillers.

God bless your brother.  I feel for him.

[gregorydc]

Thank God! Great news brother! May God continue to bless you and your family!
Greg