Pubdate: Mon, 27 Feb 2012
Source: Voice, The (New Baltimore, MI)
Copyright: 2012 Journal Register Company
Contact:  http://www.voicenews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5146
Author: Courtney Flynn, Associate Editor 

EPIDEMIC ON THE RISE? HEROIN USE GROWING IN MACOMB, ST. CLAIR
COUNTIES

On Jan. 6 a 20-year-old man was pronounced dead by emergency response
personnel after a friend found him blue and face down on the floor in
the Lodge Keeper Motel in Chesterfield. The witness said hours prior
to him waking up to his friend being dead the two had been using
heroin they bought in Detroit, according to a Chesterfield Township
police report.

Only days after this overdose, 21-year-old Chesterfield Township
resident Joshua Chilcot was taken into custody and charged with
break-ins Jan. 11 at the Country Inn and Jan. 9 at Premier Lanes.

Chesterfield Township Det. Sgt. Deron Myers said Chilcot is a
self-described heroin addict and when his home was being searched his
21-year-old girlfriend was arrested for possession of the substance;
her charges are still pending.

In September 2011 another young area man was overcome by his
addiction. According to a New Baltimore police report, city officers
found a 20-year-old, whose parents tried unsuccessfully to
resuscitate, dead in his Washington Street home on Sept. 22, 2011.
Police who responded to the scene found bottles of prescription pills
and marijuana in the room. They also spoke with the man's father who
said his son had been struggling with a heroin addiction and was
released from rehab a month prior.

Toxicology reports confirmed the 20-year-old died of a heroin
overdose.

In Macomb Township, the Macomb County Sheriff's Office has logged
several reports of people either caught with "heroin kits" in their
possession or of being high on the addictive drug when deputies have
encountered them.

In December twins from Detroit were arrested on suspicion of selling
heroin to high school students from their apartment located across
from Chippewa Valley High School. They said they were bringing the
drugs to the area as a favor to their customers.

"They saw an opportunity," Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham of
the suspected dealers, referencing the targeted population of young
adults as heroin users.

All of this paints a grim picture for law enforcement and others on
the front lines in the battle against heroin abuse.

Macomb County 41-B District Court Judge Linda Davis, president of
Families Against Narcotics, said about 300 people under the age of 25
died in Macomb County from heroin overdoses in 2011. St. Clair County
Sheriff Tim Donnellon said there were eight related heroin deaths
countywide in 2009 and 11 in 2010.

"Eleven deaths is a significant number," he said.

Wickersham and Donnellon both said a lot of heroin brought into the
area comes from Detroit. St. Clair County Sheriff's Department Deputy
Steve Campau said even though a lot of users have to go out of their
community to obtain the substance it is becoming even cheaper -
averaging about $10 for a small package - and more accessible in part
because of the increased poppy production in Afghanistan being sent to
the West.

"There's definitely been an increase over the past several years and
it's making a comeback," Campau said.

In 2010, the St. Clair County Drug Task Force confiscated 71.8 grams
of heroin and made 17 heroin-related arrests. In 2011 the task force
confiscated 93.2 grams of the drug and 25 related arrests were made.

In her courtroom Davis sees about 90 retail fraud cases committed by
heroin users every two months. The suspects are usually all under the
age of 25, she reported, adding she immediately has a suspicion of
their addiction because of their lack of a criminal record, the
hollowed out look in their eyes and the grayish tint to their skin.
With this nagging inclination, Davis simply asks the suspect if their
reason behind stealing was for funds to fuel their addiction; the
answer is usually "yes."

To help users break this deadly habit, Davis usually sends them to
jail for 30 days and then orders they stay in a treatment center for
as long as their insurance will allow it. She lines up a sober living
facility for them to continue on the path of getting clean and often
suggests parents help their child move away from the area so they
aren't tempted with the addiction again.

"Geographic location is often related to relapse," Davis
said.

While there are triggers - such as geographic locations, friends or
activities - that can cause an addict to relapse, Davis said heroin
addiction usually derives from the prior use of prescription drugs.

With 267 legal opiates on the market alone, Davis said users generally
don't find it hard to get their hands on them, especially since
doctors are always prescribing something.

"I think we've become a pill-popping culture," she
said.

Once the pill addiction becomes too expensive to fund, or the legal
prescriptions run dry, Davis said users turn to heroin.

At first, Campau said many initially snort the illegal substance but
soon the addiction becomes stronger and that is when the use of
needles comes into play.

"It's a vicious drug," Chesterfield Township Det. Sgt. Deron Myers
said. "It's like the night of the living dead."

The effort to stop the use and sale of the drug by law enforcement
agents are generally directed at the source, but many say it's a
moving target that is difficult to pin down.

"Most people leave our jurisdiction to get it," Myers said. "We arrest
people when we detect its presence, though."

He added even that can be tough as users generally seclude themselves
in private areas when doing the drug.

"Most of the kids that are using heroin rarely get caught because that
addiction is so strong they use it the minute they get it," Davis said.

As law enforcement agents and advocates against the drug continue to
fight against its presence in the area, they warn its popularity
remains steady and the addiction is hard to break.

There are several resources addicts or concerned friends or families
can contact to seek help. Many can be found at the Macomb County
office of Substance Abuse's website, mcosa.net or on the Families
against Narcotics website, familiesagainstnarcotics.org .
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MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.