The "SOME PEOPLE" Essays
The Story of Opioid Addiction Was Right in Front of Me by Mark Eric Trent | Edited by Kimberly J. Soenen May 12, 2025
(Allie Rambo and friends. Opioid Abuse and Addiction Epidemic. Photos by Mark Eric Trent.)
For more than eight years, when I received a phone call from a number I did not recognize, I would prepare to hear the news of someone who had lost their life to an opioid overdose.
Many years ago, I was trying to figure out the best way to investigate and tell the story of the prescription drug abuse tidal wave that was drowning my hometown of Parkersburg, West Virginia. After about a year into the project, I felt I wasn’t accurately capturing the scope and scale of what was happening here. I eventually met with one of my old friends, Allie. I started documenting her life and the lives of her friends.
The story of opioid addiction was right in front of me. During Allie’s time in active addiction my emotions were high. It was difficult to keep an objective distance. As a journalist, I was scared for her.
For the longest time I did not want to be anywhere but West Virginia documenting this unprecedented suicide epidemic. It’s been many years now and I’ve witnessed Allie’s transformation from active addiction to sobriety. Along the way, there have been many ups and downs. We lost friends, made new ones, and over the years have become closer than either one of us could have ever imagined.
Sadly, I have not witnessed a lot of change since 2011. The communities I work in are still suffering. Now everyone seems to be used to addiction—it has become almost normalized. The damage is done and I am not sure we will truly understand the effects of addiction until much later, when we look back. Even when someone gets into recovery, it is a lifelong struggle to maintain sobriety.
Addiction weighs on people forever.
I’m saddened because I feel as if my work is almost too late. Nothing will bring back everyone who has died. The practices of the companies that knowingly imposed harm is heartbreaking to me. Even as lawsuits mount demanding accountability and a modicum of justice, the scope and scale of the damage pharmaceutical companies intentionally perpetuated over the long term is unknowable.
And, I still worry about everyone I know who is still actively addicted.
The image that resonates most with me is the one of Allie laughing, while joking with her friends and appearing full of life even though she was addicted to opiates at the time of that photograph. When I took that photograph, I did not know what that meant...but I soon learned.
ABOUT
Mark Eric Trent travels the world telling intimate stories through photo essays and documentaries. He is an Appalachia-based photographer and filmmaker born and raised in West Virginia. He has worked in documentary and commercial spheres for editorial and news clients such as The New York Times, Great Big Story, CNN and many others. He is a member of the Southern Documentary Collective and serves on the board of the Looking at Appalachia Project.
The photos accompanying this essay are part of a large art installation in the “SOME PEOPLE” live exhibition. The art installation was presented as a family home refrigerator showcasing photos of family achievement, moments of celebration and love, with magnets.