Rosemary is afraid

“When my son was two, he used to go to my mom’s. He used to sleep over and next thing you know he didn’t want to come home. And one time he told me he was scared. I feel bad.”
Rosemary McKay is 23 with four children ranging in age from 10 months to six years.
“I used to like camping with my grandparents. I used to love doing stuff with them. It was fun.”
McKay is cautious and measures her words carefully when she looks back on her fall into addiction.
“Maybe it was the people (I was hanging around with) or maybe I was just too bored or I thought it was fun, but it wasn’t. I was using every day, sometimes two times a day.”
McKay started taking oxys about five years ago and she spent a lot of money. An 80-milligram OxyContin tablet sold for about $150 when she started using. The same tablet now costs about $600 in Kitchenuhmaykoosib.
“I sold anything I had or I would ask my parents for money or I would ask for loans. My kids didn’t have much. I wished I never did oxys.”
And her reasons for continuing to use are simple.
“It was a fix, not a high. I used to use lots.
“And almost the whole town uses so it’s hard to stop.”
McKay often glances furtively to either side of her.
“I was scared the first time I walked in here. I was scared too when I thought I wasn’t going to get accepted.
“I thought they saw me as a bad person.”