Book Review June 2016
THE BIG FIX
Hope After Heroin
AUTHOR: TRACEY HELTON MITCHELL
The poppy is a delicate creation that, with its assorted colors, displays a wondrous scene in our
natural environment. The state flower of California is the Golden Poppy, massive fields of which
might literally take one’s breath away. The opium poppy, however, is a flower of another color.
Opium is a highly addictive narcotic that is acquired in the dried latex of this plant from which
the alkaloid morphine is produced. Heroin is a byproduct of this alkaloid and, as the world
knows, is a dangerous drug. ‘Black Tar’ heroin is a highly addictive form of this opiate. Like its
name, it can be sticky, like roofing tar, and its color may vary from dark brown to black. This
was the drug of choice for Tracey Helton. It led her down a path as dark as its sobriquet,
forbidding her to surface, seemingly never to walk in the sun again. This is her story, one that
will shake your very core as she pulls no punches and forces you to experience her pain, her loss,
her degredation and, eventually, her salvation.
In the 1990’s, Tracey was not unlike any other teenager. She had her own set of self-imposed
demons (was slightly over-weight; somewhat plain in features; obsessively dedicated to scholastic
achievement as a sort of gratification), sometimes indulging in experimentation with marijuana,
alcohol. Her family situation seemed to be lacking in stability in that her father had the tendency
to drink his blues away, her mom preferring withdrawal rather than confrontation. When she
left her tentative cocoon and was thrust into the world of the collegiate, a new Tracey emerged.
She discovered that a puff, a pill or a combination with liquor, could release her inhibitions,
unleashing a new personality. It thrilled and frightened her all at the same time, but the freedom
she found was unimaginable. Soon, the thrill became a desperate need, puffs and pills were not
sufficient and she moved into the dark world of heroin. Then her only fear was not having that
‘fix’ to deliver the magic that would obliterate all ills. Eventually she found herself unkempt,
hungry, homeless, enslaved to an evil that had totally overwhelmed her soul. The fear of
imminent death and deep-rooted hopelessness finally thrust her into an environment that
absorbed her wreckage, creating the will to stimulate a transformation, in turn utilizing a
courage that had become dormant. A new begininning was on the horizon!
Today, Tracey is a wife, mother and respected professional who never greets a morning without
the knowledge that the struggle to remain free of drugs is a continuous challenge. The last
section of this book is devoted to just that….a wealth of information that will enable both the user
and loved ones to seek new beginnings. Tracey discovered her ‘big fix’….it can be out there for all
who are searching for renewal. After all, it must be remembered that where there is life, there is
hope.