Actor Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s recent death has heightened awareness of heroin use in America.
The 46-year-old actor struggled with addiction in his early twenties after graduating from the prestigious New York University and was sober for years until allegedly relapsing. Hoffman was found dead from an overdose of heroin in his New York apartment on February 2.
The late actor’s struggle with heroin addiction is one that many Americans face, and that number is growing. From 2010 to 2011, the number of addicts has grown twelve percent in Hunterdon County alone, according to the Star Ledger.
“The problem of heroin goes through ebbs and flows here in [Hunterdon County].” says Ms. Tara Kraatz, the North Student Assistance Counselor, “right now, we are seeing an increase in distribution and use of the drug.”
Those seeking to restrict heroin use could be facing towards a major problem. With more and more people using heroin because it is easier and cheaper to get than prescribed opiates, the problem must be tackled head on by police.
New Jersey is home to some of the country’s purest heroin, making the addiction even more deadly. This growing number of users could be directly connected to a new mixture of the narcotic that some say is infiltrating the mostly affluent county.
Law enforcement agencies are aware of the rise in narcotics within Hunterdon County. For the last eleven months, “Operation Day Tripper” has been in effect to combat the rising problem by shutting down sources of the sale of illegal opiates. Police officers have gone undercover and followed the trails of heroin sales for the operation.
A drug problem may seem like an impossible one to fix, but authorities have already, in the last eleven months, seized fifty people from Hunterdon County thanks to the operation. In addition, authorities seized $1.25 million in heroin shipments flying from Honduras headed to an apartment in Flemington.
The majority of those arrested in Hunterdon were between the ages of 18 and 25, and some users were buying up to 50 bags of heroin each day for personal use, which is approximately the amount that Hoffman was found with earlier this month.
In addition to preventing the sale of the drug, there have been advancements in saving peoples’ lives from opioid overdoses. A nasal spray called Narcan may be carried by police officers, or anyone, under the Opioid Antidote and Overdose Prevention Act, a “Good Samaritan” law which maybe be in place by next year. The spray counteracts the opiate in victim’s body, and potentially saves the person from dying of overdose.
As for North, the problem seems to be at a standstill, thanks to different ways of preventing drug use, like random drug testing for students involved in extracurricular activities, in class prevention methods, and assemblies.
“Thankfully, we have never had a student test positive for narcotics, but there is still a point where we cannot tell what every student does,” said Kraatz.