DETECTIVE SAYS HEROIN DRAWING AGES 14 TO 25

Crack, Marijuana Still Lead Penn Hills Usage

Heroin. The drug's name conjures up images of dimly lit apartments
littered with empty syringes, little packets of white powder and
junkies, wide-eyed and desperate for their next fix. But perhaps
heroin should make people picture nice, suburban houses, replete with
picket fences and two-car garages.

Heroin increasingly is invading suburban neighborhoods around
Pittsburgh and nationwide.

Last year, 80 people died of heroin overdoses in Allegheny County -
including one Penn Hills resident. And in 2001, Penn Hills police
charged five people with heroin possession.

Lt. Dennis Poland, commander of the investigative division of the
municipal police force, says heroin use has not become a huge problem
in Penn Hills, and other drugs, such as crack cocaine and marijuana,
remain more popular than heroin locally.

But a Penn Hills narcotics detective, who needs to remain anonymous
to do his job, says there is a "lost generation" of people ages 14 to
25 in the East Suburbs who are at risk for heroin use.

Younger potential users are being drawn to heroin because of
Colombian cartels' marketing skills, the detective says.

"They're excellent drug businessmen. They were losing money to
heroin, so now they've taken that over as well."

Heroin is easy to find and cheap, according to local police. A bag of
the drug - depending on purity and size - sells for as little $20.

A bundle - 10 bags - costs anywhere from $130 to $180.

And while the price of heroin continues to fall, the purity of the
drug keeps rising.

Another trend has to do with how heroin is used.

In the past, when most people thought of heroin, they thought of
addicts injecting the drug with needles that often weren't clean.

No longer. Today, heroin increasingly is being smoked or snorted -
just like cocaine - and the fact that those methods of use lower the
risk of HIV/AIDS infection is another factor in rising demand for the
drug.

Police say though there are drug dealers in Penn Hills that they
target, most local users buy their heroin outside the municipality.

Penn Hills residents often are involved in heroin cases that occur in
Braddock and in such Pittsburgh East End neighborhoods as
Morningside, Lincoln-Lemington and Homewood-Brushton, according to
the detective, who says the police departments involved do a good job
of sharing information.

Taking action against dealers and users isn't the only challenge that
heroin presents for law enforcement, though.

Addicts' constant need for heroin often leads them to steal to
support their habits.

Leonard Hromyak, Penn Hills district justice, says he often sees
theft and robbery cases in his court that involve defendants who are
heroin addicts.

But such problems are no worse in Penn Hills than elsewhere in
Allegheny County, according to Hromyak.

The detective agrees, though he says far more crimes are drug-related
than the public realizes.

The problem with heroin is its powerfully addictive nature.

"Nothing is better than the first time they get high," the detective says.

"They'll never get that feeling again, though. That's why,
eventually, almost every heroin user ends up using a needle, because
injecting it into the bloodstream is more potent."

Quitting heroin is difficult. Even with treatment facilities and
therapies involving such medications as methadone, addicts don't quit
until they are ready.

Says the detective, "They have to hit rock bottom, but sometimes,
even that's not enough."

Here are the basics about heroin:

Studies show 2.4 million Americans have used heroin, with active
users estimated at more than 200,000.

A 1997 study called Monitoring the Future found about 2 percent of
students in grades eight, 10 and 12 nationwide had tried heroin - a
usage rate two to three times higher than it was in 1990.

Heroin is derived from the seed pod of the Asian poppy plant and most
often appears as a white or brown powder or a sticky substance called
"black tar."

Short-term effects of heroin use include feelings of euphoria, as
well as slowed respiration and nausea.

Long-term effects include collapsed veins, absences, risk of diseases
such as HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B and hepatitis C, and addiction.

Signs of drug abuse and addiction include abrupt changes in
temperament, unexplained absences from school or work, refusal to
wear short sleeves - even when appropriate - and unusual borrowing of
money from friends and family.

Addicts who are overdue for a fix or try to quit heroin "cold turkey"
exhibit symptoms of heroin withdrawal, such as dilated pupils, goose
bumps, loss of appetite, tremors and muscle twitches, chills and
insomnia.

(Source: Narconon's Web site, which cen be found at www.heroinaddiction.com)