The American heroin epidemic is big news these days, and it’s an issue Snohomish County law enforcement tackles head-on every day. Heroin and drug use rears its ugly head in almost all aspects of our day-to-day work and almost everyone in public safety comes in contact with the effects heroin every day. The cost of heroin use to our community is staggering.
The crimes that affect our communities the most — burglary, auto theft, robbery, ID theft — are almost always the result of the need to find quick cash to feed a drug habit. The squatters and trespassers in our community’s parks and abandoned properties are often going to these places to buy and/or use drugs. It is estimated that drug addiction drives more than 70 percent of the crime in this county. In the Snohomish County jail, dozens of the inmates are being treated for heroin addiction at any one time.
How did we get here? The surge in heroin use nation- and county-wide reflects a much larger opioid epidemic, as the misuse of prescription drugs such as oxycodone and hydrocodone has also been on the rise. Many of today’s heroin addicts started with prescription drug abuse. You may be surprised at who is abusing these drugs and how they are getting access to them. Teens and young adults are finding powerful, legal opioid drugs in easy-to-access places like dad’s dresser drawer, mom’s purse or a friend’s medicine cabinet.
These pilfered pills are a big problem for kids in our county and the country. The number of teens dying from an overdose of prescription drugs has risen by 20 percent since 2006. Nationwide, 1 in 4 teens reported that they had abused a prescription drug and two-thirds of these teens say they got those drugs directly from family members and friends.
The abuse of prescription drugs is the gateway for many of today’s heroin users because opioid prescription painkillers have the same effect on the brain and body as heroin does. When the supply of prescription drugs runs dry, users turn to the nearest (and often cheaper) alternative: heroin.
What can we do? We know we cannot fight the problem through arrest and incarceration alone, and we need Snohomish County communities to help us fight this epidemic. Research shows that getting opioid prescription drugs out of the hands of those who will abuse or misuse them is one step we can take together.
Gather up any prescription and over-the-counter drugs that are expired or no longer needed and take them to one of the nine locations in Snohomish County that are participating in the DEA’s National Drug Take-Back Day on Saturday, Sept. 27. Last year more than 7,000 pounds of unwanted medicines was collected in Snohomish County. That’s two and a half tons of drugs that were kept out of kids and adults’ hands and off the streets. There are also more than 20 law enforcement-based take back locations open year-round, Monday through Friday.
We invite you to join us in the fight against the heroin epidemic in Snohomish County.
More information about the Drug Take-Back program and take back locations can be found at www.takebackyourmeds.org or call 425-388-3199.
Pat Slack is commander of the Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
