Former SOU student educating public on opiate addiction

Ashland, Ore. — Opiate addiction – it’s a growing problem across the country and in Southern Oregon.

One former Southern Oregon University student who recently recovered from drug addiction is now trying to educate others.

Kyle Simpson premiered his documentary tonight sharing the story of his addiction and taking a look at the bigger picture.

“It really is an epidemic,” Simpson said.

Former SOU student Kyle Simpson has been sober for three years, but he says the first two years of his college education were filled with heavy drug use.

“By the time I came to college I had started using black tar heroine and a lot of opiates and my life really just kind of fell apart,” Simpson said.

Pretty soon he found himself behind bars, and that’s when he decided he wanted to make a change.

So he started rehab.

“Initially I was doing it for my family because my parents wanted to… because I didn’t want to be in jail anymore… and then I wanted to do it for me because I wanted to have a better life,” Simpson said.

Now, Simpson says he wants to spread awareness about the issue.

So he created a documentary about opiate addiction in Jackson County.

“Among this country, Oregon actually ranks 4th for the highest drug-using state, and in the states it’s common for smaller counties to use more drugs per capita,” Simpson said.

Simpson’s story has had a positive impact on those in his life including his younger brother.

Now he hopes to extend his success to everyone else.

“I think we just need to really put a lot of resources into recovery and treatment because it’s an important issue,” Simpson said.

Simpson was a part of CORE at SOU which stands for the ‘Community of Recovery in Education’.

It seeks to support students recovering from addiction.