In this family, dad, 2 brothers dead from drugs; 3rd son explains how it happens

WARREN

You won’t meet many people who’ve experienced drug addiction and overdose death more personally than Aaron Repko of Johnston Township.

Repko, 28, has lived through his own drug addictions and the overdose deaths of two of his three brothers, as well as his father.

He was interviewed on the front steps of the Trumbull County jail recently after being released from a six-month jail stay for a probation violation.

It’s not a coincidence that Trumbull County’s first spike in overdose deaths was about a decade ago when oxycontin hit the area, killing a record number of people.

Repko, who attended Maplewood schools, was using drugs at about that time, following in the footsteps of his older brothers and parents.

His brother, Kevin M. Repko, 21, overdosed on methadone and Xanax and died in November 2006, following the death of his father, Kevin A. Repko, in May 2004.

“It all started with the pill epidemic, you know....In 2010, they they took all these pills off the street, so they basically set people up to get smack [heroin]. What are you going to do? Are you going to be dope sick all day or are you going to get a bag of heroin and feel good so you can go to work and do what you gotta do that day? It’s sad to say, but that’s what people did.

Read more of his assessment in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.