Project LIFE: Long-acting injectables to stop surging opioid deaths
CHICAGO -- Malachi Castner, 23, said he didn’t always sleep on the Blue Line train to avoid the cold and rain. He didn’t always start his day early by shooting up. He was once a teenager on his high school’s wrestling team.
But it was after he tweaked his back while wrestling an opponent as a junior in high school and a doctor prescribed him OxyContin that he descended into addictive patterns that stuck.
He sat inside West Suburban Medical Center on a recent Tuesday morning, scarfing down a sandwich and using shaking hands to open cartons of apple juice. He said he felt chills, his nose was running and his body ached. Over the next few hours, he was just anticipating worse withdrawal.
“I was tired of being on the streets,” he said as he waited. “So today, I decided I wanted to do my hustle and get some better drugs.”
By better, Castner means drugs that may put him on the road to recovery.
Cook County recorded the deadliest year for opioid overdoses in 2022, according to the Cook County
