Arlington - Eastern Massachusetts outpaces much of the nation in heroin-fueled emergency room visits and admissions to state treatment programs for painkiller addictions, according to two recent federal reports on substance abuse.

And while overdoses haven't necessarily spiked in Arlington, those findings came as no surprise to local paramedics, police and medical professionals, who say that abuse of heroin and prescription drugs such as OxyContin continues to be elevated and problematic in the community.

"I think that [the rate of drug overdoses in Arlington] remains steady," Police Captain Richard Flynn said this week. "People out there are, whether it be OxyCodone, whether it be heroin, it seems there's always that market out there for whatever the drug of choice may very well be."

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