Pubdate: Thu, 06 Feb 2014 Source: Star-News (Wilmington, NC) Copyright: 2014 Wilmington Morning Star Contact: http://www.starnewsonline.com/section/submit01 Website: http://www.starnewsonline.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/500 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?132 (Heroin Overdose) THE TOLL FROM HEROIN USE IS HIGH; ACCLAIMED ACTOR ONLY ONE OF ITS MANY VICTIMS The death of Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman from an apparent heroin overdose is but a high-profile example of what plays out every day in Main Street America. The main difference is that most of those victims remain virtually anonymous, statistical casualties in a futile war on drugs. Hoffman died Sunday in a New York, but our corner of North Carolina is not immune to the addiction that drives the illegal drug trade. Commenting on the latest crime report, Wilmington Police Chief Ralph Evangelous blamed heroin as a factor in the recent increase in violent crimes. It's cheaper than ever, and more potent. Also more deadly. Drug addiction in fact is responsible for much of the crime in our region, nonviolent as well as violent. Addicts steal or deal to feed their habit; deadly turf wars are fought by gang members who engage in dealing and trafficking. The battle against addiction fought by Hoffman, an abundantly talented actor who had seemingly beaten addiction years before, only to relapse in recent years, illustrates the difficulty of solving this societal problem. He was found dead with a needle in his arm and nearly 50 heroin packets -- some empty -- nearby. New York police say the stuff sells for as little as $6 a hit. As police investigated Hoffman's death, high-potency heroin mixed with the synthetic narcotic fentanyl was blamed for recent deaths in several states. Preliminary tests did not show the presence of fentanyl, which can be far more potent than pure heroin, in the packets of heroin found in Hoffman's apartment. But the additive is no stranger to Wilmington. In 2006 police reported that fentanyl-laced heroin may have killed at least four people in the Cape Fear region. Law enforcement has put untold amounts of money into efforts to prevent drug smuggling, and to prevent trafficking of both illegal substances and legitimate medicines that are peddled illegally, such as Oxycontin and other opiate painkillers. Ironically, the surge in heroin use may be the direct result of the crackdown on illicit sales of prescription drugs. What have we to show for our efforts? Prisons full of people, streets full of dealers, gangs shooting at each other's members, lives and families torn apart, people dying too soon. Not all fit the stereotype of the hard-living celebrity or down-and-out junkie. Victims over the past decade included teenagers, twenty-somethings and middle-age adults. One victim was a schoolteacher, at least one other a college student. Enforcement efforts result in a revolving prison door with little attention to tackling the addiction epidemic. The justice system does not have sufficient resources to treat addicts, in or out of prison. That has to change, but it is only part of the solution. Addiction is a lifelong fight. Even those who have been clean for years are susceptible to falling back into old habits, as Hoffman's tragic story reminds us. Prevention is the obvious answer, but more difficult than "just say no." We must focus on our children and show them that there are options out there far beyond the drugs and crime that may be all too common in their neighborhood. Many community organizations as well as the police are investing in such programs, but we need more. That will cost us, but so does prison. Moreover, the human toll of addiction is a cost we should all find unacceptable. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom