Pubdate: Sun, 06 Apr 2014
Source: Bismarck Tribune (ND)
Copyright: 2014 The Bismarck Tribune
Contact: http://www.bismarcktribune.com/forms/letters.php
Website: http://www.bismarcktribune.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/47
Author: James Macpherson, Associated Press

HEROIN USE ON THE RISE IN NORTH DAKOTA

BISMARCK, N.D. - Once thought by North Dakotans to be only a big city
drug, heroin sales and use are increasing in the state, authorities
say. U.S. Attorney Tim Purdon called the spike in heroin use in North
Dakota "new and disturbing." He said it's the result of the abuse of
prescription painkillers, a growing population and drug trafficking
operations that are primarily targeting the state's rich oil patch
region.

"When you have an increased population with a lot of money, it's a
more desirable market for drug dealers to move into," Purdon said.
"They follow the money."

North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said there also have
been spikes in heroin sales in recent years in eastern North Dakota.

Only two overdose deaths have been attributed to heroin in North
Dakota between 2008 and 2012, the latest dates for which figures are
available, according to the state Department of Human Services.

Only two people were charged with heroin-related federal crimes from
2003-11. In 2012, there were 13.

Last year, 57 people were charged with heroin drug crimes in the
state, including 42 in two different indictments alleging conspiracy
to sell heroin and other drugs on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation
in the heart of North Dakota's oil patch.

No one sought treatment for heroin abuse in North Dakota in 2005,
Department of Human Services data show. Last year,

37 North Dakotans sought treatment for heroin abuse, up from 16 in
2011, data show.

Stenehjem has said a new special prosecutor who will handle nothing
but drug cases is being placed in the state's oil patch.

North Dakota also is pushing a program that collects unused medication
to help fight the abuse of prescription painkillers, which is fueling
the market for heroin, a cheaper and more readily available
alternative.

Purdon called prescription drug abuse a "deadly step on a journey that
starts at your family's medicine cabinet and ends in the morgue."
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