Dorothy McIntosh Shuemake talks about the death of her daughter, Alison
Shuemake, 18, who died of a heroin overdose Wednesday, Aug 26 in
Middletown. NICK GRAHAM/STAFF
By Rick McCrabb
Alison
“Allie” Shuemake, a 2015 Marshall High School graduate, and her
boyfriend, Luther Combs, 31, of Kentucky, were found dead Aug. 26 in
their apartment in the 200 block of Park Street in Middletown. The cause
of the deaths is pending, according to the Butler County Coroner’s
Office. Alison’s parents, Fred Shuemake, a retired Middletown Division
of Police detective, and Dorothy McIntosh-Shuemake, said they were told
marijuana and opiates were found in her system.
Both obituaries said they died of a heroin overdose.
The Shuemakes were asked if they considered what they may have said or done to keep their daughter from dying.
“Every minute,” Dorothy said without hesitation. “Every minute. I don’t know yet. I’m still begging for answers.”
Her husband, sitting in another room, added: “I’ve wracked my mind about that. I don’t know what we could have done to change this.”
While the Middletown couple said they talked to their daughter about the dangers associated with drugs, sent her to rehab, and monitored her actions inside and outside their home, she still made the wrong choices that cost her her life.
They certainly aren’t alone dealing with a child addicted to drugs, particularly heroin.
Recently, heroin use has been described as an “epidemic,” and despite additional funding, programs and community meetings, it continues to have a larger impact throughout the region. For the first six months this year, 85 deaths in Butler County were blamed on heroin, 29 more than the same time period in 2014.
During the first five months this year in Middletown, heroin was found in the system of 14 people, according to the city of Middletown health department.
The average age of those killed: 42.
On the day Alison and her boyfriend died, a Hamilton man, Jeremy Glaze, 29, of Hamilton, and a woman were found slumped over on a front porch. Glaze was transported to the hospital where he died. The average age of the three deceased: 26.
So what can parents do or say to keep these tragedies from being repeated?
The first step, experts said, is to start conversations with your children and those talks can’t start soon enough. High school is too late, they said.
The National Drug Control Policy said nearly one-third of 12- to 17-year-olds in the United States have used an illicit drug in their lifetime.
Parents face an uphill battle because of the powerful and constant influences from the music and movie industries. One-third of the most popular songs refer to drugs, alcohol or tobacco use; 75 percent of rap songs mention drugs, alcohol or tobacco use; and 33 percent of movies show people getting drunk, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Scott Gehring, CEO of Sojourner Recovery Services in Hamilton, which helps clients and their families recover from substance abuse, said there have been serious conversations lately about when to start talking to children about drugs.
He said the agency has seen 11- and 12-year-olds addicted to heroin.
“If you don’t teach them,” he said, “somebody else will. Parents need to take a very proactive approach and tell their kids what it does and how to stay away.”
He said unlike marijuana and alcohol, heroin has the ability, because of the control it has over the brain, to make someone addicted after the initial use. He said studies have shown that 26 percent of the population has the chemical makeup to get addicted that fast.
Gehring said heroin is addictive, available and cheap — what he called the “perfect storm.” For $5, less than the price of some beers, people can purchase heroin.
Based on the clients at Sojourner, Gehring said the agency is seeing two trends: rising addictions in the 18- to 26-year-old group and older demographics.
“I’ve never seen anything have such a grip on the community,” he said.
He paused, then added: “Maybe in the history of our society.”
Kathy Becker, CEO of Transitional Living, has been active in the Middletown Heroin Summit, a group of community leaders formed last year by Middletown City Manager Doug Adkins to address its “heroin epidemic.”
She said parents need to be honest about drugs, their consequences and not to “candy coat” the facts.
“Be open, tell them what they need to hear, and tell them you love them” she said.
“Also, don’t worry about being your child’s friend. They have enough friends at school. Be their parent. They may hate you, but that may keep them alive. When they get older, they will love you.”
She said there are high school athletes who get hurt, are prescribed pain medications, then get “hooked” on the medication. When they can’t get their prescription refilled, some have advanced to heroin, seeking the same pain relief.
Becker speaks from experience. She said her nephew injured his leg in a motorcycle accident. He got addicted to the pain medication, then overdosed on heroin.
“It happens to every one of us,” she said.
Ron Ward, founder of Celebrate Restoration in Middletown, said there’s another problem: It’s difficult for some parents to steer their children away from drugs, when they’re using drugs, even heroin.
“That sends a message that it’s OK,” Ward said. “Then they may try something, say pills, and that knocks on heroin’s door.”
Years ago, Ward said, the message to children was “don’t take candy from strangers.” Now, he said, the word “candy” needs to be substituted with “drugs.”
Ward, 46, who has been actively in recovery since he tried to commit suicide in 2013, said sometimes drugs are the symptoms of the real problem. He said parents should talk to their kids about depression.
“We got to talk about feelings,” he said. “If you don’t, they become wounds that become infected. Tell your kids it’s OK to cry. Don’t tell them, ‘Don’t cry. You’re a big boy.’ Then they will go to their rooms and cry alone.”
It’s time, he said, to become “radical” in the fight against drugs. That means taking the message to the streets, knocking on doors, passing out pamphlets.
“We can’t stay in the house and protect ourselves,” he said.
After Alison and her boyfriend died, Lamar Ferrell, pastor at Berachah Church and a member of the Heroin Summit, talked to his son, Luke, a student at Middletown High School, once again about how the decision made by one individual has a ripple effect. One decision can impact an entire community. That never was more evident than at Alison’s visitation and funeral when a city cried together.
“This shows that no family is exempt,” Ferrell said.
“We all have to navigate around the temptations. We need to tell them that once you start with drugs, it will end at some point. By that time, we are left with the affects done by the drugs.”
He said the anti-drug message has to be a constant conversation.
“One talk is not the answer,” he said. “Tell them that you love them. Show your love for them and let them succeed.”
DeAnna Shores, project coordinator at Coalition for a Healthy Middletown, agreed. She said parents should start anti-drug and anti-alcohol “age appropriate” conversations with their children as early as kindergarten.
“Let them know where you stand on the issue,” she said. “Tell them, ‘I will not allow drinking in my household. That’s not OK.’”
She called parents the “primary influence” on their children.
“They are watching you and what you are doing,” Shores said.
But she admitted, parents can only educate, shield their children so long. Eventually, they make their own decisions.
“Nobody is immune,” she said. “The world still has access to them. We have to plant those seeds. Sometimes, though, the evil comes in and takes over in a blink of an eye.”
Middletown Police Chief Rodney Muterspaw addressed the impact of heroin the day of Alison’s funeral.
He wrote that the city and its police department are addressing heroin with a two-pronged effect: Understanding addicts are facing a medical problem, not just a criminal problem and jail is not necessarily the solution for them; and he promised the police department will “attack heroin dealers with everything we have” and the attack will be “relentless.”
Then he wrote: “But we need your help, we need information and we need assistance. A community bond is between the public and the police is more important than ever.
We are not going to make everyone happy and we are not going address every complaint in an hour, but we are going to pursue the dealers hard. They will not be in a comfort zone in Middletown, I can assure you that.”
He wrote that Middletown has seen an “incredible increase in positive impacts” this year and the city is on the rise.
However, he wrote, “this dying has to stop. We can’t truly progress when families are devastated because of drug overdose deaths. Make no mistake, this affects everyone, the rich, the poor, black, white, Latino. Heroin has no favorite. It is time everyone stepped up and get us where we need to be.”
Both obituaries said they died of a heroin overdose.
The Shuemakes were asked if they considered what they may have said or done to keep their daughter from dying.
“Every minute,” Dorothy said without hesitation. “Every minute. I don’t know yet. I’m still begging for answers.”
Her husband, sitting in another room, added: “I’ve wracked my mind about that. I don’t know what we could have done to change this.”
While the Middletown couple said they talked to their daughter about the dangers associated with drugs, sent her to rehab, and monitored her actions inside and outside their home, she still made the wrong choices that cost her her life.
They certainly aren’t alone dealing with a child addicted to drugs, particularly heroin.
Recently, heroin use has been described as an “epidemic,” and despite additional funding, programs and community meetings, it continues to have a larger impact throughout the region. For the first six months this year, 85 deaths in Butler County were blamed on heroin, 29 more than the same time period in 2014.
During the first five months this year in Middletown, heroin was found in the system of 14 people, according to the city of Middletown health department.
The average age of those killed: 42.
On the day Alison and her boyfriend died, a Hamilton man, Jeremy Glaze, 29, of Hamilton, and a woman were found slumped over on a front porch. Glaze was transported to the hospital where he died. The average age of the three deceased: 26.
So what can parents do or say to keep these tragedies from being repeated?
The first step, experts said, is to start conversations with your children and those talks can’t start soon enough. High school is too late, they said.
The National Drug Control Policy said nearly one-third of 12- to 17-year-olds in the United States have used an illicit drug in their lifetime.
Parents face an uphill battle because of the powerful and constant influences from the music and movie industries. One-third of the most popular songs refer to drugs, alcohol or tobacco use; 75 percent of rap songs mention drugs, alcohol or tobacco use; and 33 percent of movies show people getting drunk, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Scott Gehring, CEO of Sojourner Recovery Services in Hamilton, which helps clients and their families recover from substance abuse, said there have been serious conversations lately about when to start talking to children about drugs.
He said the agency has seen 11- and 12-year-olds addicted to heroin.
“If you don’t teach them,” he said, “somebody else will. Parents need to take a very proactive approach and tell their kids what it does and how to stay away.”
He said unlike marijuana and alcohol, heroin has the ability, because of the control it has over the brain, to make someone addicted after the initial use. He said studies have shown that 26 percent of the population has the chemical makeup to get addicted that fast.
Gehring said heroin is addictive, available and cheap — what he called the “perfect storm.” For $5, less than the price of some beers, people can purchase heroin.
Based on the clients at Sojourner, Gehring said the agency is seeing two trends: rising addictions in the 18- to 26-year-old group and older demographics.
“I’ve never seen anything have such a grip on the community,” he said.
He paused, then added: “Maybe in the history of our society.”
Kathy Becker, CEO of Transitional Living, has been active in the Middletown Heroin Summit, a group of community leaders formed last year by Middletown City Manager Doug Adkins to address its “heroin epidemic.”
She said parents need to be honest about drugs, their consequences and not to “candy coat” the facts.
“Be open, tell them what they need to hear, and tell them you love them” she said.
“Also, don’t worry about being your child’s friend. They have enough friends at school. Be their parent. They may hate you, but that may keep them alive. When they get older, they will love you.”
She said there are high school athletes who get hurt, are prescribed pain medications, then get “hooked” on the medication. When they can’t get their prescription refilled, some have advanced to heroin, seeking the same pain relief.
Becker speaks from experience. She said her nephew injured his leg in a motorcycle accident. He got addicted to the pain medication, then overdosed on heroin.
“It happens to every one of us,” she said.
Ron Ward, founder of Celebrate Restoration in Middletown, said there’s another problem: It’s difficult for some parents to steer their children away from drugs, when they’re using drugs, even heroin.
“That sends a message that it’s OK,” Ward said. “Then they may try something, say pills, and that knocks on heroin’s door.”
Years ago, Ward said, the message to children was “don’t take candy from strangers.” Now, he said, the word “candy” needs to be substituted with “drugs.”
Ward, 46, who has been actively in recovery since he tried to commit suicide in 2013, said sometimes drugs are the symptoms of the real problem. He said parents should talk to their kids about depression.
“We got to talk about feelings,” he said. “If you don’t, they become wounds that become infected. Tell your kids it’s OK to cry. Don’t tell them, ‘Don’t cry. You’re a big boy.’ Then they will go to their rooms and cry alone.”
It’s time, he said, to become “radical” in the fight against drugs. That means taking the message to the streets, knocking on doors, passing out pamphlets.
“We can’t stay in the house and protect ourselves,” he said.
After Alison and her boyfriend died, Lamar Ferrell, pastor at Berachah Church and a member of the Heroin Summit, talked to his son, Luke, a student at Middletown High School, once again about how the decision made by one individual has a ripple effect. One decision can impact an entire community. That never was more evident than at Alison’s visitation and funeral when a city cried together.
“This shows that no family is exempt,” Ferrell said.
“We all have to navigate around the temptations. We need to tell them that once you start with drugs, it will end at some point. By that time, we are left with the affects done by the drugs.”
He said the anti-drug message has to be a constant conversation.
“One talk is not the answer,” he said. “Tell them that you love them. Show your love for them and let them succeed.”
DeAnna Shores, project coordinator at Coalition for a Healthy Middletown, agreed. She said parents should start anti-drug and anti-alcohol “age appropriate” conversations with their children as early as kindergarten.
“Let them know where you stand on the issue,” she said. “Tell them, ‘I will not allow drinking in my household. That’s not OK.’”
She called parents the “primary influence” on their children.
“They are watching you and what you are doing,” Shores said.
But she admitted, parents can only educate, shield their children so long. Eventually, they make their own decisions.
“Nobody is immune,” she said. “The world still has access to them. We have to plant those seeds. Sometimes, though, the evil comes in and takes over in a blink of an eye.”
Middletown Police Chief Rodney Muterspaw addressed the impact of heroin the day of Alison’s funeral.
He wrote that the city and its police department are addressing heroin with a two-pronged effect: Understanding addicts are facing a medical problem, not just a criminal problem and jail is not necessarily the solution for them; and he promised the police department will “attack heroin dealers with everything we have” and the attack will be “relentless.”
Then he wrote: “But we need your help, we need information and we need assistance. A community bond is between the public and the police is more important than ever.
We are not going to make everyone happy and we are not going address every complaint in an hour, but we are going to pursue the dealers hard. They will not be in a comfort zone in Middletown, I can assure you that.”
He wrote that Middletown has seen an “incredible increase in positive impacts” this year and the city is on the rise.
However, he wrote, “this dying has to stop. We can’t truly progress when families are devastated because of drug overdose deaths. Make no mistake, this affects everyone, the rich, the poor, black, white, Latino. Heroin has no favorite. It is time everyone stepped up and get us where we need to be.”
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