July 6, 2009

Heroin takes hold again -- with younger abusers

More suburban youths fall victim to the drug, unaware of its highly addictive quality

By Kevin O'Neal
kevin.oneal@indystar.com

Heroin use is on the rise again, though this time it is reaching younger people in the suburbs of Central Indiana and elsewhere.

Police, prosecutors, defense lawyers, coroners and treatment centers all say they've noted the troubling trend.

"It's not just something we thought we'd see, (but) our therapists and providers are seeing more of it," said Flora Walker, the community liaison for the Pathway Family Center in Castleton.

Heroin was a major problem in mostly urban areas in the 1960s and 1970s, but its use had fallen off before resurfacing in the past couple of years.

Experts say there are a couple of reasons for the drug's return:

Typically produced in Mexico or Colombia, today's heroin is purer than the heroin of decades ago, which means users who hope to hide their habit can snort or smoke it rather than inject the drug.

It's similar to legal painkillers, such as Oxycontin, but is cheaper. Heroin goes for as little as $5 a high.

But it's the addictive quality of heroin that has police most worried.

"You're getting these kids at such an early age," said Maj. Lee Goodman, head of the Hamilton/Boone County Drug Task Force. "Heroin is a hard drug. It's a lifelong addiction, and it will ruin the rest of their lives."

However long that may be.

Heroin-related deaths are up across the nation, and at least three are thought to have occurred in the past year or so in Hendricks County.

Overall drug deaths in Indiana have increased substantially, to 766 in 2006 from 333 in 2002. It was unclear how many of those were heroin overdoses.

Among adults ages 18 to 24 sent to drug treatment programs tracked by the state Family and Social Services Administration's Division of Mental Health and Addiction, the proportion using heroin grew to 2.4 percent in 2006 from 1.8 percent in 2002. Experts view that roughly 30 percent increase as significant.

Larry Landis, head of the state public defenders' council, said too many of today's users don't seem to be aware of heroin's reputation.

"It's like a new generation has to discover the downside of heroin," he said. "You have a new wave of users coming up."

For most of the first half of the decade, Goodman's task force saw little heroin activity. But seizures by its officers have climbed steadily since 2004, and it already has made more arrests this year -- nine -- than in all of 2008.

Its most recent bust occurred June 23, when officers arrested Desiree Henson, 19, Fishers, after a three-month investigation.

Henson is accused of selling the drug to other young people in Hamilton County.

"A lot of the pushers are young," Goodman said, "and the dealers we're arresting are young.

"It's just disconcerting to us. Not only that it's increasing and has surpassed last year's total, but also it's the age frame, the 18- to 25-year-olds. I'm afraid that it's becoming chic . . . especially for the young generation."

Henson faces up to 23 years in prison if convicted of felony counts of dealing and possession of a controlled substance.

A growing trend?

So far, heroin abuse is still generally concentrated in the Northeast, where the drug is most available in urban centers. But authorities say abuse outside major metropolitan areas in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota is increasing, particularly among young people.

Indiana State Police don't break down arrests by drug types (with the exception of methamphetamine), but federal heroin seizure figures in the state are up, to about 25 pounds in 2008 from about 12 pounds in 2006.

The amount of heroin confiscated nationwide also has risen, to about 1,325 pounds -- roughly $150 million worth -- last year from 815 pounds in 1998.

The rise in demand isn't hard to explain, police said.

"One kid starts it, then they all start talking about it," Goodman said.

That's what an 18-year-old recovering addict undergoing treatment at Pathway Family Center on the Northeastside said happened to him.

"I tried to gain a lot of acceptance from a lot of individuals, and I would use anything they had," said the youth, who asked to be identified only as Paul S. "I remember my best friend's brother was using it, and he was only 14."

Paul S., who lives in suburban Indianapolis, has been in treatment for seven months.

For him, smoking marijuana in high school led to prescription medication abuse, then illicit drugs such as Ecstasy, before he finally tried heroin.

Paul S. knew he was in trouble when the drugs made him so violent that he attacked his parents when they confronted him about his addiction.

"For me, I had hit the bottom," Paul S. said. "I realized that my life wasn't going anywhere fast."

Seeing the signs

Scott Thomas, clinical director of Pro-Active Resources, a drug treatment organization, said signs of heroin use can be missed by parents, especially those who are preoccupied with work.

"They're not always involved in their kids' lives," he said, "and that leads to the denial. A lot of times they're incredulous about their kids' problem."

Mann Spitler confesses he was one of those clueless parents.

Seven years ago in Valparaiso, when his 20-year-old daughter, Manda, became hooked on heroin, the former podiatrist didn't understand what had happened.

Spitler found his daughter, unconscious and dying, nearly submerged in a full bathtub in his home, with a heroin needle and drug paraphernalia floating around her.

Resuscitation efforts failed, and Spitler had her taken off life-support.

"My sweet daughter did not look like my daughter anymore," he said. "It was for me the most devastating feeling I've ever had in my life."

In the years since, Spitler closed his practice and started speaking to students in Northwest Indiana about drug addiction.

"Sometimes," he said, "things can be happening when you don't think they're happening."

He hopes parents hear his daughter's story, too.

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