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The issue of heroine abuse is often considered part of the past. Many believe that heroine is not as much of a threat as it used to be in the 80’s and 90’s.
New drugs entered the market and gain fast popularity among consumers, while heroine became outdated. Recent facts show, however, that reality is different.
A DEA operation in the Bronx (NY) has confiscated 33 pounds of heroine inside an apartment located on Wallace Avenue. Two men were arrested.
One of them, Cristino Then, entered the building holding two big bags. The DEA agents were keeping the location under surveillance.
When the officers went inside the building to question Then, another man, later identified as Augustino Rivera, tried to flee the location by exiting the fifth-floor apartment from a window, before getting arrested.
DEA agents reported to have found the two bags, containing the drug. Different kinds of paraphernalia were also found in the apartment, such as coffee grinder and a boxes of baking soda, used to cut the drug in preparation for the sale.
The DEA operation comes in conjunction with an unexpected and sudden increase of cases of addiction to heroine and several overdose deaths occurring in the neighborhood.
Though, the local nature of the event might be misleading. Heroine consumption is a nation-wide problem that has been overlooked in recent times, but not even nearly solved.
Cases of death connected with heroine use are sparking everywhere around the country.
A glaring one that made the news last summer is as recent as last July. The Canadian actor Cory Monteith, star of the Fox television hit series “Glee,” was found dead in his room at the Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel in Vancouver.
An autopsy revealed that a mix of heroine and alcohol killed Monteith.
According to governmental sources, consumers of heroine doubled between 2003 and 2011. The study also shows the heroine epidemic reaching its peak in suburban areas.
Suburbia is where the issue of heroine consumption becomes local and hard to confront. Small communities, often ignored by the authorities and the media, represent the sort of environment where addiction becomes more dangerous.
In a large number of cases, heroine consumption begins with the use of prescription medications. Painkillers reached high popularity for their availability on the market and for their ‘cleanness.’
Young people begin by using painkillers prescribed to their parents or friends and then rapidly move to heroine.
The efforts DEA makes in localizing and seizing huge quantities of heroine every year are evident. Yet, it seems that the issue could, perhaps, be approached differently.
Confiscating the substance and arresting the dealers might not be enough. Perhaps, problem would be coped with more efficiently if there were a serious and active effort in educating people about drugs.
Whatever parents are not able to explain to their children, school would be the environment where kids learn how to be diffident towards drugs like heroine.
