Pubdate: Mon, 01 Dec 2003
Source: Sun Chronicle (Attleboro, MA)
Copyright: 2003 Sun Chronicle
Contact:  http://www.mapinc.org/media/3184
Website: http://www.thesunchronicle.com/
Author: David Linton
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)

HEROIN ON RISE

ATTLEBORO -- Area law enforcement officials fear rising heroin use in
the state, but say the highly addictive drug has so far not flooded
area streets as it has in larger cities.

" I think coke is the primary drug of choice. But heroin has gained a
lot of ground in the last few years, partially because it's cheap,"
Attleboro Detective Kenneth Collins said.

" Is heroin the drug of choice? Not for us," North Attleboro
Detective Sgt. David Dawes said. Mostly it's marijuana and cocaine.
Maybe it's hitting the cities first."

Heroin prices fluctuate widely, but usually sells locally for $10 to
$15 a bag. However, it can be found for as little as $4, police say.

The low price and purity of heroin now available in New England are
the main reasons the drug has become popular, law enforcement and
social service workers say.

Although its use has not yet caused a spike in local heroin arrests,
area police and court officials say addicts have been arrested for
other crimes to support their habit.

Heroin addicts from far outside the area are drawn to local retail
centers where they shoplift or commit check and credit card fraud,
police say.

" We've got a lot of shoplifters," Dawes said, " and a majority of
those are heroin addicts."

Terrell Kiley, chief probation officer at Attleboro District Court,
agrees.

" We see a lot of people for other types of crimes," he said. " But
when we interview them, and we get into their history, more people
indicate they have a problem with heroin."

State and federal officials say heroin use has jumped to near epidemic
proportions in New England.

Gov. Mitt Romney held a drug summit in Boston earlier this month with
other governors and White House drug czar John Walters to address the
problem.

The latest survey by the White House Office of National Drug Control
Policy found the six New England states have the highest drug use of
any region in the country. Massachusetts leads the six New England
states in overall drug use.

While area police say cocaine and marijuana remain the drugs of choice
locally, the danger of heroin use has touched the area with at least
one death. A Mansfield woman in her 20s died of a heroin overdose this
summer, police said.

" There's a lot of heroin addicts out there. A lot more than five
years ago," Mansfield Detective Sgt. Robert Martin said.

Heroin is either injected by hypodermic needle into the veins or
snorted, and produces a euphoric feeling among users, officials say.

Since 1998, emergency room visits in the state due to heroin use have
increased 60 percent each year, according to Janice Kauffman, a nurse
and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School.

Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro could not provide local
statistics.

The closest detoxification facility to Attleboro District Court is
NORCAP in Foxboro, where drug users on probation are sent.

Another is the Gosnold Treatment Center, a non-profit detox and
rehabilitation facility in Falmouth. An official at the center spoke
during a seminar in Clinton to 60 probation officers from all over the
state about drug treatment.

" It's been a slow, steady increase over the last 10 years," said
Raymond Tamasi, the Gosnold Center's chief executive officer.

Tamasi said heroin addicts seeking treatment a decade ago accounted
for about 7 percent of the center's patients. Now, the number has
quadrupled to about 27 percent.

That figure is below the statewide average of 57 percent, and is a
complete " flip-flop" in the numbers for people seeking treatment
for cocaine abuse, he said.

The reason is simple: " It's accessible. It's cheap. It's purer,"
Tamasi said.

Dealers will sell a bag to a new customer and give two free bags
hoping to get repeat business, Tamasi said.

" The drug dealers' marketing techniques are pretty sophisticated,"
he said. " They're picking up marketing strategies from the private
sector."

The problem is occurring at a time when budget cutbacks mean fewer
resources for addicts to get treatment and fewer undercover
investigations by police to crack down on dealers, officials said.

Only 25 percent of the people seeking treatment now will get a bed in
a detox facility because of budget cutbacks statewide, Tamasi said.

" Now the people who would normally have been in a treatment program
are not," he said.

Without treatment, people will end up in the criminal justice system,
Tamasi said.

Collins, an Attleboro police officer for more than 25 years, has seen
many lives ruined by heroin addiction.

" Heroin addicts tell me that the first time was the biggest mistake
they ever made," he said. " There's very few success stories with
heroin. Very few who rehabilitate.

" Once they're in it, they're stuck." 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake