CURRITUCK SHERIFF: CHEAP HEROIN FROM VA. DRIVING UP DRUG ARRESTS

Currituck law enforcement authorities are seeing an uptick in heroin
use, and most of the illegal drug appears to be entering the county
from Portsmouth, Va., Sheriff Susan Johnson said.

"I don't know where it's originally from but most everybody we stop
who has heroin has been to Portsmouth to purchase it or someone up in
that area has brought it down to them," Johnson said Monday.

Marijuana and crack cocaine have long been the illegal drugs of
choice for drug users in Currituck. But it's been only been within
the past year that arrests have increased for heroin possession, Johnson said.

"We have been seeing a larger number of people using heroin. They say
it's cheaper than the cocaine," she said.

Johnson the sheriff's department is currently averaging one
heroin-linked arrest a week.

"It was maybe once a month before. Now we are seeing it a whole lot
more often," she said.

The falling price for heroin has been linked to the major increase in
production in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

Although most of the heroin used in America still comes from South
America, the Wall Street Journal reported this month that federal
drug enforcement officials now believe more of it is being grown in
Afghanistan. According to the newspaper, Russian and Eastern European
drug cartels, who supply the U.S. market, can buy heroin for a lot
cheaper in Afghanistan than in South America.

Currituck has less than 100 hard-core drug addicts, Johnson said.
Most eventually receive treatment at the state-run Walter B. Jones
drug treatment center in Greenville. However, the 30-day therapy
sessions offered there aren't nearly long enough to help addicts stop
using illegal drugs permanently, she said.

"There's a minimum of how long addicts can be treated," Johnson said.
"(The center) gives them a start but it doesn't give them the
foundation they need to actually kick the habit."

The increased incidence of heroin use in Currituck is a real concern,
Johnson said. Unlike other drug abusers, heroin users, because
they're more likely to suffer from paranoia, are more prone to
violent behavior, she said.

"And heroin users are always needle users and that brings the concern
of HIV and officers being exposed and infected," she said.

Johnson would like to put more resources into drug prevention and
educational programs to tackle issues such as drug abuse. However,
her deputies already have their hands full enforcing the drug laws.

"You want to be proactive and get some education out to the public.
It's those things that we are not able to do because we have a staff
that is multi-tasking," she said.

Johnson has two officers who work on strictly narcotics enforcement
and three others who work on felony crime investigations.

"They are strapped, but we survive and get the job done," she said.
"But you always feel you are being reactive and not as preventative
as you would like to be."