x
Breaking News
More () »

'Everyone I knew close to me was overdosing': Addressing the drug epidemic in Lonoke County

People in Lonoke County have told us they are concerned about an ongoing drug problem in their communities.

At THV11 we are working to save a generation. It's our mission to educate and look for solutions to the drug addiction crisis. This story we're focusing on the community in Lonoke County where several people have reached out to us with concerns about an ongoing drug problem.

Elizabeth McCaghren grew up in Cabot. The now 24-year-old grew up in the Greystone area. She played basketball, volleyball and was a straight-A student.

But when she turned 17, drugs began to take a hold of her life.

“I started smoking weed, then it turned into pills and everyone was doing it, so of course I tried it,” she said. “After that you have nothing and you turn to heroin.”

She soon hit rock bottom. She was doing everything she could to get high. She stole from anyone she could. From strangers, from friends and even from family.

McCaghren realized she needed help when she looked in the mirror and saw herself. She was six feet tall, but only weighed a staggering 100 pounds. It took a family member to scare her into getting clean.

“My aunt knocked on my door at 9 o’clock in the morning one day and said, 'You either call your mom and dad or I'm calling the police.' I called my parents and they dropped everything they were doing and came and got me,” she said.

She feels the drug epidemic is killing a whole generation and she doesn’t want to see it kill anyone else. From ages 17 to 22, she was under the spell of addiction, but in August 2018 it will mark three years of being sober.

“I'm a CNA which is one of my biggest dreams that I accomplished, I've paid off every fine I have ever had, and I've even got my driver’s license back," she said proudly. "I'm going to school to become a medical billing and coding specialist and I have this beautiful that is the light of my life, my 8-month-old daughter."

However, not everyone is as lucky to escape addiction. McCaghren said seven people she grew up with in Cabot have died from an overdose since 2010.

“Everyone I knew close to me was overdosing on something," she admitted. "It was my friend CJ, then Billy, Kaitlin, Chris, and then my brother Alex.

“Alex was found in a gas station parking lot, he was slumped over the steering wheel and they don't know how long he had been there. He had overdosed on fentanyl and cocaine,” she cried.

The Cabot Police Department said in a statement that they are aware of the presence of drugs in their community, however they said they only have one report of an overdose in the city limits of Cabot in the last several years.

For now, the department has one officer that works narcotics investigations but they are looking into developing a long term narcotics team along with a K-9 officer to more efficiently investigate and prevent drug related deaths.

Lonoke County Sheriff John Staley agreed that Cabot needed a narcotics team.

“Narcotics teams are needed in every police department and law enforcement agency, we've got to work together because of the man power. There's not enough law enforcement available to combat the whole problem with each individual agency,” he said.

He said the number of overdose calls they take is sad.

“This message is to that addict: take self-accountability and own it. Go forward and get help. I just want everyone to know that police are here to help, don't be afraid, call us and we're going to come,” Sheriff Staley said.

Before You Leave, Check This Out