Deaths from drug overdoses in Harford County are on track to more than double since last year.
Twenty-one people died from overdoses in 2005, said Joe Ryan, the county?s drug control policy manager. But from January through May of this year, drug overdoses have already claimed the lives of 19 people in the county.
Despite all the recent publicity about methamphetamine-related arrests, heroin continues to be the county?s biggest problem.
It was involved in 10 of the 19 drug-related deaths this year. Methadone, which is used to treat heroin addiction, was involved in six of the deaths. Cocaine caused three of the deaths.
“It?s a terribly disheartening situation,” said Bob Thomas, a spokesman for the Harford County Sheriff?s Office. He said he could not guess what caused the sudden increase in deaths.
Drug abuse “runs the gamut from doctors to lawyers to housewives to kids,” Thomas said. “The young, middle-aged ? it crosses race, sex and socioeconomic boundaries.”
But Robert Kinniberg, of the Phoenix Recovery Center in Edgewood, said heroin is most commonly used by 18- to 25-year olds, of both sexes. It is also more available in suburbs today, reducing its cost, he said; and its purity is up 70 percent to 80 percent from the 1960s and ?70s.
Kinniberg said one in every 10 people is predisposed to addiction of some sort.
Helen Selwood, coordinator of Partners in Recovery treatment center in Forest Hill, said it scares her that teenagers tell her it?s easier to buy drugs than alcohol. She said Partners in Recovery has experienced a large increase in patients in her three years there as coordinator.
“Some of our problem is parents of today were college students in the ?70s and say, ?I smoked pot. I?m doing good. I have a nice car,? ” Ryan said.
Most of the county?s heroin comes from Baltimore, and police traffic stops can only slightly stymie its movement, he said. He emphasized that law enforcement officials can continue doing education programs for officers and the public, but parents need to be more involved.
“If you want to ruin your life and the lives of those around you,” Thomas advised, “then start experimenting with addictive drugs and you?ll succeed.”
