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Heroin abuse is on the rise across the United States and school authorities and parents are seeing the results. Heroin is now cheaper and purer than ever before.

According to local New York authorities, a small bag of heroin is cheaper than a six-pack of beer and is estimated to be 15 times purer than it was in the 1970s. The increased purity means that users can snort the heroin. Many teens have the mistaken idea that snorting the drug makes them less likely to become addicted to it.

Approximately 46 people in Nassau County, N.Y., died from heroin overdose. This represents an increase of 75 percent over the previous year. In Will County, Ill., 23 people this year have died from heroin overdose, compared to 16 last year. The number of heroin overdose deaths has tripled in Jefferson County, Alabama, from 6 in 2007 to 18 this year.

(Source: www.cbsnews.com)

Labels: drug overdose, heroin abuse

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One year ago, Alicia Lannes, a 19-year-old from Fairfax Virginia, died of heroin overdose. Her death initiated a federal investigation into a heroin ring in Centreville, Virginia. Four young men, current and former students of a local high school, received sentences from four to 20 years for their involvement in the ring. Alicia's boyfriend was also charged with providing the heroin that killed her.

This week, Alicia's father, Greg Lannes, spoke out about heroin use in the suburban community, saying, "It's not some inner-city issue. ... We want the impact of our pain to be felt by the community."

Local police report that heroin use is a growing and unsettling trend among local high school students, many of them from privileged backgrounds. Fairfax County Police Commander Ron Lantz commented, "We're seeing kids on the honor roll, band students, kids in athletics and sports ... become involved in heroin."

(Source: www.msnbc.msn.com)

Labels: teen drug abuse, heroin abuse, virginia

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Morgan County, W. Va., is experiencing an increase in heroin abuse and related overdoses, according to a recent article in The Morgan Messenger. Since the heroin overdose death of a 19-year-old in September 2008, authorities and young people throughout the county have been paying greater attention to the presence and dangers of heroin abuse.

Robert Dugan III, age 20 and a Morgan County resident, was interviewed for the article. Dugan commented on the mindset of many young people in the area: "You hear about an overdose and you think it's just one person, but it's not."

Dugan recalls being offered drugs all the time growing up, and avoiding them because he had made a deal with himself. But, as he got older, his motivation for staying away from drugs changed. "If you make it long enough without doing drugs, then it's just seeing the effects on people that made me stay away from them," he said.

Dugan recalls watching his friends sell their cars and radios to support their habits. He remembers how many of them also began missing work and lost their jobs, unable to stop doing heroin. "A lot of people I knew wanted to get off it. Nobody starts out saying I want to be addicted to heroin,'" Dugan said.

(Source: The Morgan Messenger)

Labels: heroin abuse, virginia

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