The news out of New Orleans Tuesday was that accidental drug overdoses have caused more deaths than murders in 2016.

New Orleans, a city once known as the murder capital of the world, now has competition from another killer which has taken over first place.

In 2015, there were 164 homicides in the city compared to 92 drug-related deaths. In 2016, the homicides increased slightly to 174, but drug-related deaths rose to 211. The coroner said the trend is a public health crisis.

I’m sure many people in the River Parishes will ignore the trend, thinking it only happens in big cities. Believe me, the young people in the River Parishes have not escaped the evils of drug abuse.

The reason for the alarming drug use, abuse and deaths is attributed to the abuse of heroin. At treatment centers, I always ask if the heroin addicts enjoy using heroin intravenously.

One hundred percent said they never could stand taking a shot, but with heroin addicts, when they see the needle, the high starts before they are injected.

When the heroin addict seeks help, they often go to clinics that specialize in giving them methadone to fight the heroin addiction.

According to the dictionary, methadone is a synthetic narcotic drug used in medicine to treat heroin and morphine addicts.

It’s more powerful than morphine with longer lasting actions.

The problem is the person only switches from one illegal drug to a legal drug, which I think is just as addictive.

I don’t have the answer to the problem, but I know I’ll continue to try and direct one user at a time from the road of destruction they’re headed on and challenge them to make a U-turn.

If you have any questions or comments, please write Harold Keller at Get High on Life, P.O. Drawer U, Reserve, LA70084, call 985-652-8477 or email hkeller@comcast.net.