Heroin deaths continue to plague metro-east

The heroin problem is an all-too-familiar story for law enforcement and public officials in the metro-east, as leaders have been grappling with the flood of low-cost, easily-obtained heroin and its accompanying deaths.

So far this year, St. Clair County has had nine overdose deaths, of which two are believed to be caused by heroin or heroin and morphine. First-quarter statistics for Madison County are not yet available.

After three people suffered fatal overdoses in one night a few years ago, Madison County formed a heroin task force that has met intermittently to bring together social workers, health care, law enforcement, educators, treatment specialists and others in the community to focus on the problem.

Among the conclusions reached: the problem goes beyond easily accessible, cheap heroin to the prescription slips from a doctor’s office. Expert after expert has testified about an over-reliance on opiate pain pills that lead to addiction, and once the supply of legal prescription drugs is shut off, the patient often turns to street drugs and eventually heroin.

The new heroin is more pure, and cheaper, according to law enforcement. A “button,” which can be ingested and does not have to be injected, is only $10 on the street. Often it is cut with fentanyl, an extremely powerful painkiller usually prescribed for terminal cancer patients.

Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Gibbons said the opioid epidemic has driven up crime, but most of it in the metro-east is property crime and theft. “The ripple effect of addiction is people stealing to feed the addiction,” Gibbons said. “There is a substantial tie between theft and property crimes because of the heroin problem.”

Local businesses ranging from small mom-and-pop retail stores to big-box retailers like Walmart are hit often by petty theft related to drugs, Gibbons said. Burglary often has its roots in addiction as well, he said; cars, sheds, garages and even houses are often hit by addicts looking to feed the habit, sometimes stealing from relatives as well as strangers.

“An addict is more likely to come into contact with the criminal justice system because of theft rather than the drug possession charges,” Gibbons said. The drugs are behind closed doors, he said, but the thefts to feed the habit bring them out where they can be caught.

The financial effect is significant, Gibbons said: large businesses can put in loss prevention measures like security guards and cameras, but they’re still losing money, which passes costs on to consumers. “For smaller businesses, it’s harder for them to detect and deter that kind of thing,” Gibbons said. “Everyone pays the price for the epidemic.”

Meanwhile, jail populations are high, and efforts to stem the tide have often been frustrated. Drug court in Madison County attempts to get addicts into treatment, but treatment can be hard to find and harder to pay for. Law enforcement offices have set up prescription drug collection boxes to get unwanted prescriptions out of homes and away from those who might abuse them.

And then there are the deaths. An estimated 119 people died of drug overdoses in Madison and St. Clair counties last year, and at least 59 were suspected to be related to heroin.

While the total number of overdose deaths dropped, heroin deaths nearly doubled. There were 43 heroin deaths in Madison County alone; in 2009, there were only seven.

Nationally, about 8,200 Americans die of a heroin overdose every year, according to the American Society of Addiction Medicine, which also says that about 75 percent of heroin addicts begin with an addiction to a legally prescribed drug. The federal Centers for Disease Control estimates that deaths from prescription painkillers has gone up 265 percent for men and 400 percent for women since 1999. Heroin deaths have gone up 286 percent since 2002.

Regional Superintendent Robert Daiber said that in addition to ongoing drug education in the schools, the Illinois Education Association teachers’ union has been educating its staff on the heroin issue and showing the documentary “The Heroin Project” in professional development.

“The Heroin Project” is a documentary written by Ashley Seering, a recent graduate of the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville mass communications department. It was filmed in Madison County, and centered on the increasing problem of heroin addiction, overdose and death. The 53-minute documentary has been screened several times in the region, and recently won the “People’s Choice Award” at the Blaquefyre Independent Film Festival and was screened at the St. Louis International Film Festival, as well as screenings for groups like the Illinois Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Association.

Daiber said his office will focus on heroin for the biannual training session offered next fall for social workers, guidance counselors, teachers’ aides and other people besides teachers who work directly with children in the school systems. Every two years they conduct an intensive training session on an important issue for those who work in education, he said; two years ago it was cyber-bullying.

This year it’s heroin because the school workers need to be aware and well-trained, he said.

The heroin task force is likely entering a new phase soon, Gibbons said, but details could not yet be released as they are still under discussion.

“We’ve learned a lot, and we’ve taken a lot of action based on what we’ve learned,” Gibbons said. “Now we’re looking to put together what we’ve learned into recommendations for action. We are exploring outlets to take those recommendations and put them to work.”

This story was originally published April 6, 2016 at 12:24 PM with the headline "Heroin deaths continue to plague metro-east."