Twenty-five miles north of the city of Philadelphia, even rural areas like Plumstead Township have a heroin problem that fills jails, burdens police, and takes lives.
Plumstead Police Detective Kevin Larkin finds that theft and heroin addiction go hand in hand. “These people are doing drugs, getting high, and looking for their next fix. They commit a lot of crimen falsi, crimes of deceit such as theft and burglary,” he said.
“Generally, people we catch stealing aren’t stealing to buy weed, they are going to buy heroin,” he said. Addicted individuals will even steal from family members.
Drugs in general are a problem, but heroin is an epidemic that spans the country. “Opiate is accessible in Doylestown and Plumstead, you don’t have to go to Trenton or Philly to get it,” said Larkin.
Heroin is an opiate. This means the base of the drug comes from the seed of a specific variety of poppies. According to the DEA, United States Drug Enforcement Administration, heroin is extremely addictive because it enters the brain rapidly. “Heroin abusers report feeling a surge of euphoria or ‘rush,’ followed by a twilight state of sleep.”
After repeated use, a person develops a tolerance to the drug. This person then has to use more to chase after the satisfaction of their first high. This results in addiction.
PrimeCare Medical Inc., the company that runs Bucks County Jail, gives out patient education sheets on opiate withdrawal. Early withdrawal symptoms “are usually mild to moderate and maybe be mistakenly recognized as the flu.” But later opiate withdrawal can result in abdominal cramps, diarrhea, dilated pupils, goose bumps, fever, vomiting, and insomnia. They urge patients to report symptoms to staff members.
PrimeCare also warns inmates that people who go through withdrawal will end with less tolerance to the drug, so they are more likely to overdose if they continue to use the drug after their release.
Heroin overdoses not only tax on our medical and police services, they kill. “I’ve had parents tell me they’re waiting for the day they’ll get a call that their son or daughter is dead,” said Larkin.
The Drug Policy Alliance says, “The chance of surviving an overdose, like that of surviving a heart attack, depends greatly on how fast one receives medical assistance. Witnesses to heart attacks rarely think twice about calling 911, but witnesses to an overdose often hesitate to call for help or, in many cases, simply don’t make the call.”
Several states have enacted laws, often called “Good Samaritan” laws, to encourage people to call for help before it’s too late. “If you’re doing drugs as a group and someone overdoses, you have immunity so you can call to save your buddies life,” said Larkin.
Plumstead officers are trained to treat overdoses with Narcan. This treatment reverses the effect of an opiate in the user’s system. It is a nasal spray that is shot up each nostril. If that form isn’t affective, the squad is trained to administer it through a shot.
If someone overdoses, police look through their phone for information on the dealer. Larkin said there have been a few successful cases where the dealer is charged with drug delivery resulting in death.
Drug delivery resulting in death is, Title 18 under Chapter 25, criminal homicide. The Pennsylvania General Assembly says the grounds for prosecution are if “the person intentionally administers, dispenses, delivers, gives, prescribes, sells or distributes any controlled substance or counterfeit controlled substance in violation of The Controlled Substance, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act, and another person dies as a result of using this substance.”
Drugs like heroin can also be taken on with preventative measures. DARE, Drug Abuse Resistance Education, has been speaking in Pennsylvania schools for years. State Training Coordinator Lloyd Bratz has been in the program since 1988 and was one of the first 15 officers trained in PA.
“Back in the day kids used marijuana and other drugs because they were inexpensive, now heroin is free and inexpensive,” said Bratz. “Kids go from pain killers to heroin.”
He tells kids that they have a choice. They can spend money on stuff that’s good for them instead of stuff that’s bad for them, because drugs only lead to long term problems.
“Kids who I taught then are parents now. They still remember me. They see me and thank me. I’ve seen the good and the bad from kids I have taught, it can go both ways. We’re not gonna stop drugs. If you can slow the process down that’s success. If I touch one person, I believe it’s a success,” said Bratz.