Md. Heroin Addicts May Not Be What You Picture - Essay Example

Heroin deaths have increased each year from 2010 and not even the governor’s two panels devoted to fighting drug abuse has had any success. Kartalija reports Lt. Gov. Boyd as saying that the current approach indicates the worst situation that the County can expect. The reactions in the fight against heroin focus on reducing the number of deaths in Baltimore (Kartalija). Heroin use in Baltimore is skyrocketing bringing in a new face represented by the young and those living in the suburbs (Bubala).

Bubala gives an example of the Montgomery County high school student Lea Edgecomb. Edgecomb, an honors student, tried heroin for the first time and ended up in a coma due to paralysis from the neck down. Heroin has spread all over and even in the suburbs reaching extremes that were hardly expected. One does not need to go into the city to access heroin-like in the sixties all the way to the eighties (Bubala). In Dorchester County heroin has raised to a high of 400 percent due to favorable prices and a readily available market (Bubala).

Today’s heroin addicts start out with painkillers but quickly discover the massive heroin presence that is also cheaper and easier to acquire (Kartalija). In the year 2014, heroin claimed a total of 450 Marylanders a 50 percent hike from the previous year. The figures are expected to increase over the years if the state doesn’t find a solution fast enough to stop the pandemic (Kartalija). Kartalija talks of Hannah, who walked, found her daughter died from heroin use. Hannah’s daughter had been in 19 rehabs, but every time she left she relapsed so fast indicating the high levels of addiction.

Lisa’s youngest daughter claims that someone gave her a pill when she hit middle school making her an instant addict (kartalija). Reports by the US government indicate that Baltimore has the largest per capita heroin addiction rate. Baltimore has been designated as part of a High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area warranting special federal intervention.