Experts say tough economic times have caused drug abusers to turn to cheaper and more dangerous alternatives such as heroin. Reports have shown that the City of Jackson has had several over-doses in the past month.
The Head of Warren's Special Investigations division says heroin is cheaper than pills and it's a high that lasts a long time.
"I think these are choices people are making regardless of what the economy's like. And often times we've seen cases where these are working people," said Sheriff Steven Rand.
U.S. officials say opiates, which include heroin, were involved in 680 overdose deaths in Michigan last year. State officials say the number of people receiving treatment for heroin abuse in the state jumped from nearly 8,000 in 2001 to 11,000 last year.
This past weekend, a woman crashed her car while officers suspect she was using heroin. One officer came across the woman Sunday morning in her car with a needle still in her arm, suspected of shooting up heroin minutes before she went onto the road.
"People are willing to gamble with their lives as far as using heroin. It's pretty sad," said Sheriff Rand.
Groups like the Jackson County Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition are trying to stop these cases from spiraling out of control.
"Most heroin users, when you ask them did they start on heroin, the answer's no. Most actually start with prescription drugs. So we really try to combat that and go upstream and address prescription drug abuse, because if we can avoid that, we're getting the heroin use lower as well," said SAP Coalition Prevention Manager Kelsey Haynes.
But officials do recognize it's a big problem that could get even bigger.
"2011 probably saw the biggest rise in heroin abuse in several years. So I anticipate 2012 will be another big year for heroin use. And I can't explain why that is, but there certainly has been an uptick," said Sheriff Rand.
The Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition does have lot of information available on different programs and prevention efforts. You can find that link in Seen on 6.
