Opiates, whether in the form of prescription drugs or heroin, are an increasing problem in Genesee County, according to local law enforcement officials, and the desire of addicts to score is behind a lot of the property crime in the community, they say.
Sgt. Steve Mullen, of the Local Drug Enforcement Task Force, confirmed in a conversation this morning that while the misuse and abuse of prescription drugs has been a growing problem for a couple of years now, the use of heroin locally is something that is relatively new.
"In the last year, we've seen more heroin than ever," Mullen said. "We didn't see much heroin for years, but in the past year or 18 months we've seen a dramatic increase in heroin in the community."
Several property crime arrests recently seem tied to addicts trying to come up with the money to buy heroin, Mullen said.
"Whether it be an increase in burglaries out east, or all the car larcenies around Christmas, or petit larcenies, the majority of that is related to the abuse of drugs," Mullen said. "It allows them to continue to purchase their drug of choice."
And sometimes, the drug of choice is a substance that is legal with a prescription and potentially safe if taken as prescribed.
This includes hydrocodone and oxycontin, but Mullen said there has been an increase recently in abuse of Opana (oxymorphone).
While some addicts get hooked on these drugs because they're seeking a new high, prescription drugs have proven addictive for educated professionals who might first use them as they're legally intended (for reducing pain from a physical injury, for example).
People obtain the the drugs in a variety of ways, from stealing them (or trying to) from pharmacies, to taking them from a relative (either alive or recently diseased), or buying them from dealers.
There have also been medical professionals who write fraudulent prescriptions.
Some people figure out the system and go from doctor-to-doctor, county-by-county, getting multiple prescriptions written for bogus pain complaints.
"It's important for people to understand that just because pain pills are prescriptions, they're still opiate-based," Mullen said. "Just because it comes from a doctor doesn’t mean it doesn't carry the same addictive characteristics that heroin does and that it can't be abused or misused."
I have seen the prescription
I have seen the prescription use escalate among my peers in the last year. The prescription drug Opana, Oxycontin, Roxicodone, has a huge demand for it. Which makes it very pricey. Its just cheaper to shoot heroin.
Just pile a dumptruck load of
Just pile a dumptruck load of the stuff into the now abandoned Lowes parking lot and let the addicts have all they want. They're going to get it one way or another so why not make it free? They won't be committing crimes to get the money to buy the drugs. Before anyone has a fit, what I just said about the truckload was figurative, not literal.
Ah well, I've beat this drum way too many times on here. It's not about whether people do drugs or not. It's about the money, the justification for larger police forces and more prisons. If you don't do drugs now, you wouldn't do them if they were legal. Some will disagree but I agree to disagree with those who disagree. :-)