Increased Heroin Use among Suburban Teens
Not my child and surely, not in Howard County! Is that what you think about teens using heroin? When HC DrugFree held 11 focus groups in Howard County during this 2011-12 school year as well as at our Teen 2 Teen programs, we heard shocking stories from youth and young adults about how cheap and easy it is to buy heroin in Howard County. Baltimore is known as the Heroin Capital of the US, and we live a few minutes and a few miles away. Please don't think that your kids have to go to Baltimore City to find heroin. Some do make the short trip. For others, they find it here in our safe, lovely community.
Here are some quotes from teens and young adults in Howard County that stuck with us:
"No one wants to think their little child is going to grow up and be an addict."
"My friend started drinking at 10, now he's using heroin."
By age 15, Steve (not his real name), a Howard County teen, was using anything he could get his hands on and had a neighbor who would go into Baltimore City to get heroin for him. |