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May 8, 2008 8:41 pm US/Eastern
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Heroin Use Skyrocketing Among L.I. Teens
Study Shows A 20 Percent Increase In Incarcerations, Emergency Room Visits And Deaths Resulting From Drug
PORT JEFFERSON, N.Y. (CBS) ―
There is a shocking new hardcore drug trend among teenagers on Long Island. Heroin use has skyrocketed and so have the number of deaths. It's happening in towns you would least expect.
Michael Divine patrolled the streets as a city police officer, but his toughest case was at home. His son, Joseph, died of a heroin cocktail overdose only blocks from a Port Jefferson hospital where his mother was a nurse. It was Joseph's first experiment with heroin.
"It was a sudden, shocking death," Michael Divine said. "And sadly, as I read the newspapers, he is not the only one."
On Long Island on Thursday, county leaders, police brass, medical experts and middle and high school principals attended a heroin health summit.
"Heroin is incredibly addictive, much more addictive than other drugs," Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi said.
"My generation, as the police officers said, you would think you would never see it again and that it's back. It's frightening, but we'll get out there and work on it again," one official added.
Parents also spoke.
"That what I wanted to make abundantly clear: that it's real. It is real. And it's a nasty drug," one parent said.
With a heroin summit going on inside, police outside police headquarters were carting off four teens to court on trafficking of heroin charges. They are from Lindenhurst and Copiague and are 17 and 18 years old.
"What we preach in assemblies is we respect each other. You need to communicate. If your buddy is in trouble let us know," one education official said.
Recent research shows there has been a 20 percent rise in the suburbs of heroin-related incarcerations, hospital emergency room visits and death.
"Dumbstruck and shocked," Michael Divine said when asked of his reaction to his son's death. "This is an experience and this is a concept which is immeasurable in a parent's life."
The surge in teenaged use has to do with the increased purity of heroin. Rather than inject it, kids can now snort it.
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