A deadly form of heroin continues to destroy lives across Long Island, trampling across age groups and economic lines. Amanda Singer, a teenager from Sayville, is still escaping a scene known well to girls such as Natalie Ciappa, a Massapequa teenager whose death from an apparent opiate overdose last month underscored what police say is a rise in heroin use among young people. Shaun Collins, a former military medic, looks back on the 20 years he's given to the drug life. For the parents of 17-year-old Michelle "Misha" Nardone, the lessons have come too late. They are three faces of heroin addiction on Long Island, right now. One could not tell her story. Two others are now clean, and fighting to stay that way. [continues 647 words]
Deadly Form Of Heroin Continues To Destroy Lives Across Long Island, Trampling Across Age Groups And Economic Lines. Amanda Singer, a teenager from Sayville, is still escaping a scene known well to girls such as Natalie Ciappa, a Massapequa teenager whose death from an apparent opiate overdose last month underscored what police say is a rise in heroin use among young people. Shaun Collins, a former military medic, looks back on the 20 years he's given to the drug life. For the parents of 17-year-old Michelle "Misha" Nardone, the lessons have come too late. They are three faces of heroin addiction on Long Island, right now. One could not tell her story. Two others are now clean, and fighting to stay that way. [continues 846 words]
The indictments of three people accused of running a large marijuana production business in several Long Island warehouses highlight what officials call a national trend toward indoor-grown marijuana that is more potent, more profitable and more harmful. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the number of indoor marijuana rooms discovered nationwide increased 38 percent from 2001 to 2006. The average number of plants found at such operations increased more than 70 percent during the same period. [redacted] were arraigned Wednesday in federal court in Central Islip on charges stemming from what officials said was a high-tech pot-production business run out of a series of rented warehouses. [continues 314 words]
Addicts who overdose on heroin or other opiates are likely to land first in a hospital emergency room, where doctors can often save them from brain damage or death. For many of those who want to get clean, the next step is a hospital-run drug detoxification program. There, patients are physically and emotionally prepared to move into a long-term recovery program. But with fewer detox beds available, some of Long Island's hardest-core opiate addicts are finding it harder to take that crucial step. St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center in Smithtown shut its 12-bed unit in July 2005, and Southside Hospital in Bay Shore shut its 10-bed unit in April. [continues 376 words]
When Matt locked himself in the bathroom of his parents' East Meadow home last year to take his first shot of heroin for the day, he knew immediately that this hit was different. The cooked heroin, packaged under the name Pyramid Papers, was unusually thick and oily. He cinched a belt around one arm to ready a vein and turned on a hot shower to intensify the effect. As he pressed the dope into his vein, he felt all the blood rush to his head: "I heard, 'Whomp whomp whomp' and then I was done, just out." [continues 938 words]
Addicts who overdose on heroin or other opiates are likely to land first in a hospital emergency room, where doctors can often save them from brain damage or death. For many of those who want to get clean, the next step is a hospital-run drug detoxification program. There, patients are physically and emotionally prepared to move into a long-term recovery program. But with fewer detox beds available, some of Long Island's hardest-core opiate addicts are finding it harder to take that crucial step. St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center in Smithtown shut its 12-bed unit in July 2005, and Southside Hospital in Bay Shore shut its 10-bed unit in April. [continues 371 words]
