Felons and Celebrities Alike

"The theory, demonstrated well with Philip Seymour Hoffman, is that when you have a period of forced abstinence through rehabilitation, or when you go sober for a period of time, your body chemistry has changed and you can't handle it."
"If you shut down the supply and don't deal with demand, people turn to heroin."
Jeffrey Reynolds, executive director, Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence

"It's everywhere. It shows no prejudices and is being used by the young, middle-aged, even cops' kids and soccer moms ... It's also more pure. You take it once, and you are hooked."
James Hunt, special agent, DEA's New York field office

 A man brings used needles to the Baltimore City Health Department Needle Exchange Program, which is warning users of a dangerous strain of heroin. (Algerina Perna, Baltimore Sun)

There has been a rash of deaths due to heroin use lately around the American East Coast. Mr. Reynolds was referring to the fact that when prescription painkillers became difficult to obtain with federal and state laws tightening doctor and patient access, heroin became the pain-deadening drug of choice.

Mr. Reynolds pointed out that a bag of heroin sells for about $10, where its equivalent amount of Vicodin sells for $30. Heroin becomes more available as prescriptions dry up, and the relief in pricing becomes another attraction.

Heroin use across the U.S. has increased by 79% between 2007 and 2012, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, released in 2013. Emergency room doctors at the Allegheny Health Network in Pennsylvania have been overwhelmed with heroin overdose visits doubling in the last several months at the five hospitals embraced by the Pittsburgh-based network.

Maryland and Vermont record heroin use on the increase with Vermont facing "a full-blown heroin crisis", as stated by Governor Peter Shumlin. During his State of the State address on January 8, the governor noted twice as many heroin overdose deaths in the year just passed, as compared to the year before.

Drug Enforcement Administration agents see increasing heroin seizures in small towns and suburbs. "We are seeing this in the central and southern parts of our county (Anne Arundel County, Maryland) and it's being used by middle class and upper middle class residents", stated Kevin Davis, police chief in Anne Arundel.

Tests by federal health official indicate heroin now being sold is 60% to 70% pure, which represents quite the increase from the 5% normally seen during the 1970s. Southwest border seizures have tripled from 559 kilograms, to 1,855 kilograms in 2012; Mexico-founded heroin going to the U.S. West, and Colombian heading to the EastCoast.

Poppy plants grown in parts of Asia, Mexico and Columbia provide the extract of morphine from which heroin is produced.

As in the case with Philip Seymour Hoffman, doctors and enforcement officers believe this new purer strain of heroin is inclusive of the addition of fentanyl, a painkiller usually prescribed for cancer patients. "Fentanyl is very, very potent", explained Sharon Stancliff, at the Harm Reduction Coalition. Its addition makes the use of heroin riskier than it would otherwise be. And this is what Philip Seymour Hoffman is reputed to have discovered.

A memorial for movie actor Philip Seymour Hoffman is displayed in front of his apartment building in New York, Feb. 3, 2014.