Pubdate: Sun, 26 Jan 2014
Source: Times, The (Trenton, NJ)
Copyright: 2014 The Times
Contact:  http://www.nj.com/times/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/458
Author: Mike Davis, The Times

HEROIN OVERDOSES INCREASE IN MERCER COUNTY

"I'll never do heroin. I'll never do it," Jonathan Macciocca told
himself.

Despite six years hopelessly addicted to prescription medications, he
still had hard and fast limits about heroin.

But in the throes of withdrawal from oxycodone, the appeal of the more
dangerous drug finally caught up to him.

"The next thing you know, I'm detoxing from the prescription meds when
someone says, 'If you do this heroin, you're not going to feel that
withdrawal anymore, you're not going to be sick,'" Macciocca said,
relaying the internal back-and-forth drama. "My brain's telling me, 'I
don't want to feel the way I feel, but I don't want to do heroin.'

"But I don't want to feel as sick as I do right now, so I'll take the
heroin," he said.

Macciocca's oxycodone addiction quickly developed into a heroin
addiction - both are drugs in the opiate family - putting him in a
class with many Mercer County residents who have suffered the same
fate.

According to the New Jersey Department of Human Services, 799 Mercer
County residents admitted into drug treatment during 2012 said heroin
or other opiates were their primary drug of choice.

There were 288 Trenton heroin users admitted into treatment programs -
the 10th highest number in the state - along with 121 Hamilton
residents and 34 Princeton residents, the DHS said.

But along with the rise in heroin use has been a rise in
overdoses.

According to the Mercer County medical examiner's office, 35 heroin or
opioid overdoses were reported in 2013, up from 32 in 2012. Statewide
totals for 2013 were unavailable, but there were significant increases
in heroin or opioid overdose deaths across the state. Ocean County saw
the worst increase, from 52 deaths in 2012 to 112 in 2013.

Macciocca attempted to overdose in a suicide attempt in 2008 after his
cousin, 24-year-old KC Meara of Hamilton, died of a heroin overdose
using drugs Macciocca purchased.

In the year after KC's death, his father - Hamilton Councilman Kevin
Meara - founded City of Angels, a nonprofit that helps addicts seek
treatment, performs interventions with their families and offers
support for addicts upon re-entry into their daily lives.

Meara said heroin had become an "equal opportunity offender," no
longer dismissed as an urban drug by suburban parents.

"It doesn't care about the color of your skin or the size of your
house," Meara said. "We used to think that heroin users and drug
addicts lived under a bridge in Trenton. Kids are dying in their
bedrooms and bathrooms in the suburbs. My son lived in a rural section
of Hamilton Township and died of a heroin overdose."

A SLIPPERY SLOPE

Macciocca's story is not uncommon, Meara said. Many prescription drug
addicts, especially those using "synthetic heroin" oxycodone, find
themselves addicted to heroin, which is cheaper and more powerful than
the prescription drugs.

According to the state Attorney General's Office, more than 7,200 New
Jerseyans were admitted to treatment centers for painkiller addictions
in 2010.

"It starts in the medicine cabinet with Vicodin, Percocets and
OxyContin. Once your body is addicted and you've depleted your source
of income, someone's going to say, 'I can sell you a bundle of heroin
for a very low price,'" Meara said. "It only takes a couple of years
and these kids are off to the races."

One City of Angels client, a businessman with a family, became
addicted to pain pills after going through back surgery.

By the time City of Angels performed an intervention, the man had lost
his home and business and was squatting in an abandoned Camden
building shooting heroin.

Other clients have been prescribed dozens of Percocets after getting
wisdom teeth pulled or more than 100 OxyContin pills while recovering
from knee surgery.

"By the time the injury stops, they're on their way to an addiction,"
Meara said.

Like Macciocca, Trenton resident Anthony Amancia transitioned to
heroin after a lengthy addiction to opiates, finding the drug on the
streets of Trenton - where he grew up involved in street gangs - as a
cheaper alternative to pills.

"It was so much cheaper than the pills, and I just couldn't live
without them," Amancia said. "It came to a point where I wasn't even
really getting high. I needed it just to maintain feeling normal.
Everything started going downhill from there."

SOLUTIONS

When it comes to overdoses, advocates are still waiting for widespread
adoption of Narcan, an aerosol form of naloxone hydrochloride that is
administered as a nasal spray to counteract the effects of a heroin
overdose.

As part of the Opioid Antidote and Overdose Prevention Act, which Gov.
Chris Christie signed into law last year, law enforcement agencies are
permitted to carry and use the drug, which New Jersey Drug Policy
Alliance director Roseanne Scotti called an "antidote."

Police in Ocean, Hunterdon, Camden and Cape May counties, where the
problem has reached epidemic proportions, were expected to start
carrying it early this year, but most departments have yet to roll out
naloxone and state guidelines for EMTs still don't recommend using the
drug, a policy that officials should reverse, Scotti said.

"Police are often the first people on the scene, so having the ability
to easily stop the overdose right there while they wait for help ...
seconds count in terms of saving someone's life or keeping them from
having brain damage," Scotti said.

For addicts trying to get clean, drug treatment programs may not be
readily available, Scotti said. And if they are, the state covers the
cost for only a certain amount of time.

"Half of the adults and two-thirds of the adolescents in this state
who want drug treatment can't access it because we don't have enough
beds and we don't fund it at the levels for people to get the
treatment they want," Scotti said. "If you've got people begging to go
into treatment, we need to find a way for people to get there."

One Drug Policy Alliance advocate's son relapsed and died of an
overdose after an 11-day stay in rehab, despite telling officials he
wasn't ready to leave, Scotti said.

Four months ago, Amancia entered a drug treatment facility where he
detoxed for about one week before coming home and "toughing it out."

"I got sick and tired of being sick and tired. I just didn't want to
live like that anymore," Amancia said. "This time I just felt that
something was going to be different."

For Macciocca, his cousin's death - and his own overdose attempt -
turned on a light.

He entered rehab for the 14th time and it stuck, helping Macciocca
"learn a lot about (himself)" and to find religion.

He's been heroin-free since March 2012 and free of mood-altering
substances since July, coinciding with the birth of his first son. He
now works with City of Angels, speaking to students and helping with
interventions.

"A light went on," Macciocca said. "I was just at a point where I
couldn't live with what I was doing. I told myself, 'This is it.'"
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