Oregon

In December, Rachel Daggett, who had just turned 18, was a senior at Sam Barlow High School.  In a series of unfortunate events, Rachel made some unhealthy choices and was found dead in a Gresham home.  That morning, her family lost a shining star, and students at Sam Barlow High School lost a true friend.

Although reports were sketchy at first, I did some more investigation on who really was Rachel Daggett.

Everyone who knows Rachel says that she was always happy, upbeat, and not the kind of girl who would use drugs or drink at parties.  Rachel loved her family very much.  She also loved her beautiful long blond hair.  Rachel loved her cat, Lily, who surly misses her human.  She loved cars, playing in the water, and her friends.  One of her favorite things to do was to go to the beach.   As a senior on the brink of graduation, Rachel had big plans for the future.  She wasn’t the kind of girl who just sits around lazy and let the world pass her by, she was a girl on the move.

Initial reports made about the night Rachel died said that she was at a 21-year-old male’s home who had just been evicted and was throwing a huge party on the last night in their home.  No one spoke about what had happened at the party, and friends close to her and the boys who were moving from the home say that there was no party.

Sources say that Rachel was helping the two young boys who lived in the home move, and that the boys were both 18 and hadn’t been evicted.  Friends believe that she stayed over night to help them clean up the home and finish moving because that’s what kind of friend she was.

What killed Rachel Daggett?  Toxicology reports show that Rachel died from an  overdose of Oxycodone that she smoked with her friends.  Three men are now in custody, accused of selling the pills that killed Rachel.  33-year-old Ronald Zaloznik had the prescription and used his little brother and his brother’s friend to sell the pills.

How could such a bright and beautiful young lady be led down the path that caused her death?  Only people closest to Rachel would know why she made the fatal choice of smoking a prescription drug.  She’s not alone. Prescription drug use is a huge and largely fatal problem in teens.

Oxycodone is fast becoming the top drug abused by teens.  Gresham-Barlow School District and Police will be holding a meeting on March 2^nd at Sam Barlow High School’s auditorium to address the issue of drug use in teens.