During what seemed like an epidemic of urban heroin use in the 1970’s, the images of the typical addict — strung out, nodding off on street corners, track marks along every vein — were so strong that they turned off an entire generation of potential users. Those images did not resonate so strongly in places where addicts were seen only on television.
So when heroin became purer and cheaper in the 1990’s, it took root in predominantly white, working- and middle-class communities. That shift was apparent last month in Brooklyn, where, the police say, John V. Zappulla, a 25-year-old from Wantagh, N.Y., struck and killed two young mothers and a child as he sped through the streets high on heroin and cocaine.
But what is perhaps more telling evidence of heroin’s growing popularity among teenagers and young adults can be found in drug treatment centers.
At New York’s state-licensed centers, the rate of admission for heroin addiction has caught up with that of cocaine and crack in the last five years, according to a report released in November by the National Drug Intelligence Center. Over all, 32,000 people of all ages were admitted to state treatment centers last year for heroin addiction, up from 29,000 in 1997.
People 25 and younger account for a larger share of these growing numbers; they were 12 percent of admissions, or 3,840 people, last year, up from 10 percent of admissions in 1997. Several state-licensed treatment centers are grappling with how to respond to the increased demand.
Costs are an issue. Adolescents in New York City used to qualify for public assistance that covered room and board during treatment. But last September, the city began enforcing a state statute that requires a minor’s family to qualify for public assistance for those costs to be covered. In many cases, families earn too much to qualify for aid, but cannot afford treatment.
Written by Daisy Hernandez for The New York Times.