Experts: More suburban heroin use

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - Those who work with heroin addicts say its popularity has been on the rise and it's killing more people in West Michigan. Two recent Heroin overdose deaths at the same house in less than a month seem to back that up.

It was once thought that heroin use was a big city problem, but that's changed and experts have some notions why.

While the latest statistics are hard to come by, experts seem to agree heroin use is up.

"It seemed to be like a demographic area of I would say like Grandville and Jenison. And they were all young kids, like probably between 18 and 26 who came in wearing Abercrombie, Hollister. You could tell they came from good homes and they were addicted to heroin," said Bethany Fisk, medical department manager of the Salvation Army Turning Point Programs.

Detectives think it claimed two lives in the past month at this upscale home near Hudsonville in Ottawa County. Now a friend who lived the house is under investigation. Authorities think he may have provided the men who died with the heroin.

"I think it's really hard to spot it  when you're close to that person and they're your family or they're your friend," said Fisk.

Often, heroin use happens toward the end of a drug use progression. Investigators say young people often start by abusing prescription drugs, which is a catalyst that may be some of the reason for the increase. That addiction escalates to more serious drugs.

"A lot of the prescription drug abuse -- OxyContin in particular, Vicodin and others -- work in the same way as heroin does and the street value of those pills is $50 to $70 a piece, whereas the heroin the street value is $15 to $20 for the same dosage or hit," explained Michael Yasenchak, the US Drug Enforcement Administration's resident agent in charge.

One consistent factor over the years is that users never quite know the potency of the heroin they've gotten their hands on.

"You assume you're getting the same thing, but you just don't know how many times it's been cut and if it's been cut less times, you're going to have more pure heroin," said Yasenchack. "It may be enough to kill them."

Experts say it can be hard to notice a loved one suffering from the effects of heroin, but some of the tell tale signs are abnormal sweating, and changes in behavior.

Most important though is dispelling the myth that heroin abuse happens in some places and not others. In reality, it's everywhere.