From Heroin Addiction to
Prostitution: One Woman Shares Her Story
Women who are addicts assume an enormous amount of risk – risk that is physical as well as social. One of
those risks is the increased threat of sexual attack or assault while under the
influence – or simply due to being around the wrong kind of people at the wrong
time.
One increasingly common issue across the United States is
the rate of young women from the suburbs who get involved in prostitution rings
or sex trafficking. Why is this happening? Increased rates of drug abuse in the
suburbs has led to increased rates of other drug-related issues like sex work
and similar crimes. Too often, addicts ignore the signs of danger when they have the option to get high – and the end
result can be deadly.
Lisa’s Story
Lisa Guierrieri was a high school student from the Philadelphia
suburbs when she began to experiment heavily with hardcore drugs. At first, the
efforts to obtain heroin seemed scary and the dealers seemed dangerous, but
after a little time, Lisa began to repeatedly ignore her intuition and give in
to the pull of the next high.
Fortunately,
Lisa could only maintain secrecy about her addiction for a short time because
it soon began to permeate every aspect of her life. Lisa’s mother and
stepfather stood by in frustration as Lisa dropped in and out of different
rehab programs without staying long enough to build up any measure of success.
After some time, Lisa went missing from her family’s home.
During
this period, Lisa met a pimp who offered her free heroin in exchange for the
ability to post her picture on the Internet. Soon Lisa and a few other high
school suburban girls were caught in a prostitution ring that offered sexual
favors for heroin. The pimp would keep the cash given by the customers and the
girls would move from hotel to hotel with enough heroin to keep them in a
lethal state of addiction.
The cycle came to an abrupt end when Lisa was arrested for
prostitution, an event that ultimately led her into treatment where she was
graduated successfully, finally able to build a new life for herself in
recovery.
Don’t Lose Hope
If your loved one is battling addiction, you don’t have to
stand by and watch it happen.
Contact us at the number listed above and an admissions coordinator will speak
to you about treatment options. We can also match your loved one with the right
treatment program for his or her needs.
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