HEROIN IS BACK, MORE DESTRUCTIVE THAN EVER

It's doubled since October as the drug of choice for addicts in
recovery at Home with Hope, a rehabilitation facility in Lafayette.

Narcotics investigators say the highly addictive opiate is quickly
replacing methamphetamine among hard-core users.

And more cases of teens and parents abusing this substance are
trickling in to juvenile court.

Call it smack, dope or brown sugar -- heroin's availability is on the
rise in Tippecanoe County.

"It's extremely troubling. ... It's the most physically addictive
drug known to man," said Darren Dunham, assistant director of Home
with Hope. "If a person is without it, they're compelled to secure
more, or they get physically ill."

Though heroin arrests and seizures still lag far behind those of
meth, cocaine and crack, according to the Tippecanoe County Drug Task
Force, what's troubling to police and court officials is the opiate's
sudden surge locally.

The trend has emerged nationwide.

Processed from morphine, a substance extracted from the seed pod of
certain types of poppy plants, heroin is typically sold as a white-to
brownish-colored powder or as a black, sticky substance known on the
streets as "black tar heroin."

Injected, snorted or smoked, it gives users a rush within seconds.

Pure drug = bigger problem

Capt. Steve Dietrich, commander of the local drug task force, said
that just six months ago, much of what was being sold as heroin in
the Lafayette area were actually other opiate derivatives or the
painkiller Fentanyl.

But recent arrests of suspected dealers -- three last November and
three more in an undercover sting in January -- turned up actual
heroin, he said.

"Years ago, we saw a lot of black tar heroin. But it didn't pan out,
it didn't test for heroin," Dietrich said. Now "we don't really know
what origin this heroin is or what capacity it's being brought in.

"Even just a little bit can have an impact on an area like this."

The drug task force suspects that dealers from the Chicago area are
bringing harder narcotics into Lafayette. Statements from two of the
suspects arrested in January supported this, Dietrich said.

Who is using?

The swell of abusers likely consists of hard-core meth addicts
wanting to move on to another drug.

"Physically, emotionally, they have run the course of meth and are
stepping up to that," he said.

Tippecanoe County juvenile court Judge Loretta Rush also can attest
to this. While cases involving meth abuse have declined lately,
instances of both cocaine and heroin abuse have steadily increased.

It has been documented during substance-abuse evaluations and court
testimony, disclosed either by the children or the parents, she said.

"For several years, I did not have any heroin cases," Rush said. "The
fact that I am seeing more of this now is alarming."

A big price to pay

It's cause for concern nationwide because heroin, though abused less
frequently than drugs including marijuana and cocaine, carries a
higher risk of death from overdose or visits to the emergency room,
according to a U.S. Department of Justice study released in October.

Heroin's demand is driven by an estimated population of 800,000
hard-core addicts, along with abusers switching from prescription
medication, the National Drug Threat Assessment 2007 states.

Unlike stimulants such as meth, heroin relaxes a user, producing a
mellow, sluggish mood. The sick feeling that comes from withdrawal
pushes the need for another hit, he said.

Tolerance develops with regular use, meaning users need a stronger
dose to achieve the same effects. Experts say that one of the most
detrimental long-term effects of heroin use is addiction itself.

Dunham, the Home with Hope assistant director, said he first noticed
the local increase in heroin abuse in October. Now, about 20 percent
of the halfway house's 72 clients are being treated for an opiate as
their drug of choice, up from about 10 percent, he said.

"Unfortunately, what has been shown to be the only means of breaking
from the physical, long-term addiction is 21 to 28 days of
incarceration," Dunham said.