Pubdate: Tue, 11 Jul 2006 Source: Daily Record, The (Parsippany, NJ) Copyright: 2006 The Daily Record Contact: http://www.dailyrecord.com/customerservice/forms/letters.htm#form Website: http://www.dailyrecord.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/112 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin) REALITY OF HEROIN Awareness Of Overdose Deaths Is Important Stereotypes are very hard to put aside. One such stereotype is that hard drugs like heroin are common in such places as Newark and Camden, but not in affluent Morris County. That is a falsehood. 2006 is only a little more than half over and there have been 18 drug-related deaths in Morris County. If that pace continues, it would easily surpass last year's total of 22. A most recent victim of heroin use was Holly Gillis, 21, of Hanover. As friends gathered at the Gillis home, some said they were unaware heroin was that much of a problem in Morris County. Needless to say, even those familiar with the world of illicit drugs are going to be surprised when a family member or close friend is a victim. But there really isn't any reason to be surprised that illicit drug use is a problem in the suburbs. It's been eight years sincethe Daily Record did a series profiling heroin deaths in Morris County. Many of the victims were young and not much different than Gillis. If law enforcement had a magic solution to stop drug use, it would have been used years ago. There always will be drug abuse. The hope is that public awareness will alert family members and friends to the danger signs of addiction. Law enforcement authorities can help expand public awareness by talking more openly about the problem. John Dangler, who was Morris County Prosecutor in the late 1990s, publicized each drug overdose death, simply because he wanted to make sure people knew there was a problem. His successor, Michael M. Rubbinaccio, is less likely to do so. Awareness is not a cure. But we feel publicizing details of drug-related deaths as soon as possible is preferable to not doing so. That could help puncture the myth that drug overdoses are solely an urban problem. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman