Heroin Drug Abuse Among Teens and Young Adults

Heroin has been sweeping through the suburbs of New York City and is becoming a fast growing trend throughout the northeast. Despite the introduction of cutting agents, chemicals that dilute the strength of the drug providing a bigger yield, toady's heroin happens to be stronger and cheaper than it once was. People are struggling to figure the cause of this new wave of heroin drug abuse among teens and young adults, heroin is commonly thought of only being used by the "low of the low"; this misconception has allowed teen drug habits to progress unchecked, heroin is just such an unbelievable drug for teens to be experimenting with.

Bags of heroin for street purchase are usually marked with a skull and cross bones or words like "Kiss of Death" and "R.I.P". "A bag of heroin can sell for $5 to $25 and induce a six- to eight-hour high, according to officials and former users. Cocaine, by comparison, can cost $40 to $60 for a 30-minute high, while prescription painkillers like Vicodin or OxyContin sell for upward of $40 a pill on the street. The heroin available in the Northeast these days is purer than the kind that ravaged New York City in the 1970s, experts say, and almost certainly as lethal, if not more", according to the New York Times. It is thought that the lethality of the drug plays a large role in teenagers' attraction to it; the idea of cheating death and a sense of invisibility among teens draws many to the drug. According to Bridget G. Brennan, New York City's special narcotics prosecutor, "recent drug raids of so-called heroin mills have yielded hundreds of thousands of bags at a time, up from several hundred bags a year ago".

People are overdosing and dying all over the northeast, many times before anyone even knew they was an addiction problem occurring. In Nassau County, Long Island 25 people died of overdoses just in the first 6 months of 2009; it appears that the number of heroin related overdoses has been doubling every year, making clear the heroin should be a major concern amongst parents, even those in upper-middle class suburbs. Once the hand of heroin addiction grabs a hold of someone, it unfortunately takes repeated pain and suffering before the addict will even consider the remote possibility of seeking out recovery. Very few people have ever managed to "kick" heroin on their own, treatment is usually the only route to freedom with such a powerful drug; often heroin addicts end up checking into treatment multiple times in their life before sobriety sticks to them.

Lesniak Cunningham Bill Amending The Drug Free School Zone Law

New Jersey made a huge move yesterday with the LESNIAK-CUNNINGHAM bill amending the New Jersey's drug-free school zone law, allowing judges more discretion when sentencing non-violent drug offenders. In a country with too many prisons housing primarily people with non-violent drug charges this is an amazing step towards more treatments and less prisons. New Jersey calculates that $48,000 is spent per person each year on imprisoning people that clearly would be better served in a drug treatment facility. The fact is that drug offenders who serve their time in prison, rather than treatment, have a much greater chance of winding up behind bars again. Unfortunately, New Jersey is not alone, the majority of all jails and prisons in the United States have more inmates convicted with drug related crimes than anything else.

It's pretty clear by now that America's approach on the drug war is failing, so much time and money is being spent imprisoning when we should be treating. The original drug-free school zone law is not doing what it was intended to do, as a result many people are being unfairly punished. The Star Ledger Reports, "The idea, hatched in the Legislature many years ago, was to protect children from drug dealers. But Hoffman's commission found that almost none of those charged under this law were on school grounds luring students. They were in nearby neighborhoods. And 96 percent of them were African-American or Latino". Inner-city kids are much more likely to get caught up with the law because just about everywhere you go in the city it is within a 1,000 feet of a school - in New Jersey and everywhere else in the country. Senator Cunningham believes that, "New Jersey needs to do a better job in getting violent offenders off the streets, whether it's drug offenses or criminal street gangs", according to the Politicker NJ. "However, we cannot and should not continue to turn a blind eye to the effects of mandatory minimum sentencing on nonviolent offenders, many of whom enter prison and are recruited into gangs or other violent criminal enterprises. Mandatory minimum sentencing has created more violence on our streets and a hamstrung judiciary, unable to direct nonviolent offenders to drug treatment programs".

We can only hope that other States will follow New Jerseys lead, just recently New York repealed the Rockefeller drug laws regarding cocaine which is another major step forward in the United States quest towards reducing prison populations as well as costs. I will be following these stories to see if these reforms are as successful as I hope they are. We encourage you to send us your thoughts on the subject.

'Basketball Diaries' Author and Punk Icon Carroll Died

Jim Carroll, author of the famed Basketball Diaries, died on Friday of a heart attack. Carroll's life was forever shaped by his extensive Heroin use which is what most of his prose consisted of. Despite dying at, what many would consider, a young age, 60, he left behind a legacy that we all can cherish. He gave the world a close up, in depth, view of the trials and tribulations of an addict. In the 1970s, Jim Carroll played a major role in the New York art scene, where he mixed with artists such as Andy Warhol, Patti Smith, Larry Rivers and Robert Mapplethorpe. The 'Basketball Diaries' author and punk icon died from a heart attack at his home in Manhattan, his ex-wife Rosemary Carroll told The New York Times.

Carroll's poetry and other works were amazing, but, it was his gritty autobiographical tale of growing up in New York and ultimately becoming a drug addict, who went so far as to prostitute himself, that drew the most attention. "The book, which began life as a journal, was first published in 1978 and then became even more popular, particularly on college campuses, when it was issued as a mass-market paperback two years later", according to the NPR. It was adapted into a film in 1995 and it starred Leonardo DiCaprio. I always will remember the story as giving, arguably, the best portrayal of the progression of the disease of addiction; moreover, it showed people there was a way out if one so chose to do what was needed.

Jim Carroll starting writing poetry at a very young age. "Carroll was in his teens when he first received recognition for his poems, especially "Organic Trains" in 1967 and then "4 Ups and 1 Down" in 1970. Among his other works are collections such as The Book of Nods (1986), Fear of Dreaming (1993) and Void of Course: Poems 1994-1997 (1998)" reports the NPR. You can feel the pain in his words and you can hear his cries for help. So many pop icons have passed away this year it is almost unbelievable. However, it is uplifting to know that Carroll, unlike so many suffering from this disease, remained a productive member of society until the end of his days.

California Industrial Prison Complex Needs Reform

California's need for prison reform is absolutely staggering and a need for a change in the way we view certain crimes is completely necessary. The country is in the grips of a fiscal crisis, the question of how states can cut costs is ever looming; it is no secret that billions of dollars are spent every year imprisoning non-violent offenders, most of which are drug related, in California. There is no question that California's Industrial Prison Complex needs reform and policy changes are vital to helping us relieve some of the states fiscal stress. Today, the total is 168,000 inmates in California which is an increase of 740 percent since the 70's and it costs annually 10 billion dollars to operate; California has a $26 billion budget shortfall, so prisons account for almost half of that number.

A three-judge federal court panel Aug. 4 ordered California to reduce its prisoner roll by 43,000 inmates over the next two years. This is a huge step but there are a lot of people who are against the idea of setting convicted offenders free because we are in a budget crisis. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has cut prison spending by 1.2 billion which will only work if they reduce the amount of inmates. According the Coastal Post, "The state, the judges wrote shortly before a major riot at the state prison at Chino, has created a "criminogenic" system that actually pushes prisoners and parolees to more crimes through "appalling," "horrific" prison conditions: "Thousands of prisoners are assigned to 'bad beds,' such as triple-bunked beds placed in gymnasiums or day rooms, and some institutions have populations approaching 300 percent of their intended capacity. In these overcrowded conditions, inmate-on-inmate violence is almost impossible to prevent, infectious diseases spread more easily, and lockdowns are sometimes the only means by which to maintain control. In short, California's prisons are bursting at the seams and are impossible to manage."" That being said it is hard to believe that cutting prison spending without inmate reduction can do much good at all, it will only fuel the fire.

The reformist Drug Policy Alliance and its allies, a year ago, put a "Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act" on the ballot. Drug treatment officials and a group of former corrections officials, believe that prison is not the answer to the drug problem in California; drug treatment has the greatest chance for curbing recidivism. Billions of tax dollars would be saved and could be put towards more constructive ideas throughout the state. On the other side of the United States, New York has repealed the "Rockefeller drug laws" which were the cause of prison over population as result giving drug offenders long sentences. In the last decade the New York State prisons have reduced their population by 10,000, a pretty amazing feat accomplished by offering treatment as opposed to prison. California obviously has some catching up to do, but, it is clear now what has to be done and New York is direct evidence that it is possible.

"Now California reformers are pushing a "People's Budget Fix" formula they say would save at least $12 billion over the next five years. It includes a claimed $5.5 billion through community-based addiction treatment for minor drug offenses (proposed by the Drug Policy Alliance)", reports the Coastal Post. It seems that we are heading in the right direction now that people realize that drug offenders, as well as the public, are better served by being provided treatment rather than locking people up and just expecting that that will change their behavior.