Track marks litter both of her arms, evidence of years abusing drugs.
“It runs pretty much all the way down the vein,” she says. “That is pretty much all scar tissue.”
A recovering drug addict, she didn’t want us to show her face or use her name, but felt compelled to share her story with NewsChannel 3.
“It started with cocaine, Xanax, Perc 30’s, then heroin,” she says. “I just gave up on everything pretty much just to get high every day.”
She grew up in Wanchese, a small fishing village in Dare County. In the past few years, Wanchese has been flooded with drug activity. The drug of choice: heroin.
“Everybody I knew, everybody I grew up with was shooting up doing heroin,” she says.
It got so bad that parents were finding used hypodermic needles on playgrounds at school and even their front yards. However, the drug use appears to have dried up.
“It’s probably been three weeks since anymore needles have been found,” says Kamela Warren, who started a community watch group in Wanchese.
Investigators say the change is thanks to saturated patrols and folks like Warren taking action.
“From what I’m hearing, this town is what is considered dry,” Warren says. “So they are moving on to other places.”
Deputies say they’ve made 12 felony drug arrests in five weeks; however, Sheriff Doug Doughtie says they still have a long way to go.
“A lot of work to do,” Sheriff Doughtie says. “You know, we’re not going to quit.”
The woman we spoke with was arrested for selling heroin in March and has been clean for two months now. Though hopeful for her future, she says her past will never leave.
“It sucks because one day I’m going to have to explain to my children, to whoever sees it like what it is.”
If you have any information for deputies, you can take action and call the Dare County Crimeline at (252)473-3111.
