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Heroin Use on the Rise in Monmouth County

Heroin use in Monmouth County has been on the rise with over 37 overdose deaths this year. Doctors, substance abuse counselors, and police believe this is due to the increase in prescribed opiates which leads to progressive addiction, and its overall purity and availability.

Suanne Schaad, Substance Awareness Coordinator in Health Services, said that prescription pill abuse has been on the rise within the past 10 years, and this can lead to heroin addiction. Such experts are blaming doctors on overprescribing opiate-based drugs for this increase in user dependence.

“If people want to know what’s killing our people who live in the county, especially what’s killing our youth, it is heroin and other drug abuse,” Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor, Christopher Gramiccioni, said.

Psychology professor Alan Cavaiola said, “I always ask my classes, ‘How many of you have ever been prescribed a painkiller like Vicodin or Percocet?'”

Cavaiola explained that most students answer that they have been administered these drugs and that the medication made them nauseous or dizzy. The students explained that they each chose to stop taking the drug as soon as possible.

“There is, however, a small percentage who will continue using and who will become addicted,” Cavaiola added.

“The only issue with [prescription pill abuse] is it gets really expensive,” said Schaad. The counselor said pills such as Oxycontin can cost anywhere up to $80 per single dose when purchased illegally, whereas heroin only costs approximately $5 –to $7 a bag, with a purity ranging anywhere from 50 to 95 percent.

In an interview with The Point 94.3 FM on Sept. 19, Gramiccioni said, “Monmouth County has the purest heroin in the world.”

As defined by DrugFree.org, heroin is a highly addictive drug derived from morphine. Heroin is a “downer” that interferes with the brain’s ability to perceive pain.

Schaad said that depending on the user, one bag can get some addicts through the day; however, there are those who need more depending on their tolerance level. These bags can be injected, snorted, or smoked.

When a tolerance for drugs increases, a user will need more, explained Schaad. Eventually, this will lead to a user needing stronger dosages, which means more money will be spent. “At some point, for lack of better words, it becomes worth it for some people to switch to heroin for a similar high at a much cheaper rate,” she said.

A previous heroin addict and graduate student in the mental health counseling program, who wishes to remain anonymous, said he/she has been clean for four years. He/she started using drugs at the age of 12 due to their mystique and allure, as well as the pressure of fitting in socially. He/she progressed from alcohol to marijuana, which led to Vicodin, then to Oxycontin, and eventually heroin.

heroin_use_2“I eventually switched to heroin because I couldn’t afford anything else. From that point on, there were years of heroin abuse where I was using 40 or 50 bags a day at my worst,” he/she said. “Heroin got me higher faster than anything else, really.”

“I was going through rehab for years,” added the mental health counseling student. “I overdosed multiple times where I pretty much died and was revived. Unfortunately, addiction is a disease. I would’ve done anything in my power to stop my addiction, but nothing could stop me, including myself.”

Gramiccioni said New Jersey ranks as one of the top five states for overall heroin seizures, with this number increasing dramatically over the past several years.

“[Heroin] is one of the drugs, along with cocaine and methamphetamine, that really transforms our brains on a cellular level where it makes addiction happen easier and therefore, making it harder to quit. It goes to that pleasure center of our brain and blows it up,” said Schaad.

Heroin used to be considered an inner city drug, but now it “knows no racial or socio-economic boundaries,” commented William McElrath, Chief of Monmouth University Police Department (MUPD).

Cavaiola said heroin has flooded into the American market from Afghanistan, Turkey, Mexico, and Columbia. The movement of heroin is apparent in Monmouth County, particularly in the case back in December where more than 50 people were charged for being in a heroin-trafficking ring called “Operation Hats Off.” The prosecutor announced that approximately 10,000 bags of the drug were moved each week during this movement.

Although heroin is highly available, Jason Caianiello, junior psychology major, said, “I was unaware of this increase in heroin availability. I am actually shocked.”

When asked if increased knowledge of this epidemic will drive students into wanting to experiment with the drug, both Schaad and McElrath answered there is no correlation. McElrath explained there have been no recent arrests for possession of heroin or distribution of heroin amongst students, “but it would be foolish to think that heroin use has somehow bypassed the University. It’s here just like it’s everywhere.”

According to Gramiccioni, the number of children and adults who have sought treatment for admitted heroin addiction are 721 in the Freehold Regional School District, 255 in Middleton, 110 in Hazlet, and 164 in Manasquan Sending District area.

In an effort to combat these deaths, Governor Chris Christie signed the Good Samaritan Overdose Law in May, a measure that encourages people to report drug overdoses without the fear of getting arrested for possession. The campaign urges people to immediately call emergency personnel if they suspect a user is suffering from an overdose.

“The Good Samaritan Overdose Law is essentially an extension of the University’s Good Samaritan Practice, except it applies to all residents of New Jersey, not just students,” said Schaad.

It is stated in the 2013 to 2014 student handbook that under the Good Samaritan Practice, students who seek assistance from the University to address a situation involving a significantly intoxicated or under the influence individual will not be charged with a violation of the University’s alcohol or drug policy.

A little over four million Americans aged 12 or older report using heroin at least once in their lives and an estimated one out of four of these users became addicted, as stated by Gramiccioni.

Those suffering from addiction are urged to seek help. “Everyone is at their place of willingness to change or not change,” said Schaad. “I would like students to know there is a safe, free, confidential place on campus where they can go to if someone is addicted to an opiate like heroin. I can’t tell you how many times we have helped students.”

Students can seek help on the third floor of the student center in the office of substance awareness.

PHOTO TAKEN from blogspot.com

PHOTO TAKEN from harmreduction.org