Builder | Brian Croce | August 2, 2017
Hidden Pain: Opioid's Impact on Home Building
In addition to running his construction company and serving on the Berkeley County Council in West Virginia, the responsibility that weighs heaviest on Dan Dulyea is helping his 34-year-old son avoid opioids and heroin.
Dan Dulyea Jr. has been an addict for nearly half of his life, during which time he has served a prison sentence and stolen from family members to feed his habit. Junior, as he likes to be called, has been off opioids since February and is working once again for his father’s business, Dulyea Construction, which builds custom homes and commercial buildings, and is currently remodeling its first restaurant.
Both prescription and illicit opioids are plaguing the nation—they are the main driver of drug overdose deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). And while the CDC reports that Dulyea’s home state of West Virginia has the highest overdose death rate in the U.S., the problems created from excessive opioid use extend well past state lines.
