Muskego Police See Heroin Use on the Increase, Join Residents in Asking Why

As Patch has run a few articles on heroin use in the city, the devastation of the drug seems to beg the question of why it is popular, and seems to be featured more regularly in weekly reports from the .

"We have had three people die of heroin overdoses, and it seems like we are making arrests for heroin possession on a weekly basis.  This is, to say the least, a disturbing trend, and one that defies logic for most people," said Lt. Dave Constantineau.  "I am constantly being asked, considering how addictive and lethal heroin is, 'why would anyone use it?'  The answer I would like to give is, 'I don’t know.'"

When I was a drug investigator some 16 years ago, we did not have one heroin arrest, now we get several a week.  And Muskego is not alone.  The entire Waukesha County and metro Milwaukee area is having the same problem.  So, obviously, something has changed to turn people on to heroin.

"One of the main catalysts to heroin appears to have been the introduction, use, and abuse, of Oxycodone, also known by its brand name, OxyContin.  Oxycodone is an opiate based pain reliever.  Most people who are prescribed Oxycodone are able to handle it without any problem," he explained.  "Some people, however, are unable to break away from it, and become addicted.  Eventually, they are no longer able to get the medication legally, and must buy it illegally, which can be very expensive.  Heroin, which is also an opium based drug, is much cheaper than Oxycodone, and gives 'a better high.'  Put simply, people take up heroin because it is cheaper."

While facts are sobering, Constantineau said one answer to the problem might currently be in your medicine cabinet.

"People with legal prescriptions are not the only people who become addicted to prescription medications.  We have talked before about 'pharming parties,' where the cost of admission to the party is prescription medication, which is then put in a bowl and shared," he explained. 

"There is a perception out there, particularly among the young, invincible and immortal out there, that because it is a 'medicine' that it won’t hurt me, so they experiment.  Nothing could be farther from the truth."

Constantineau explained that one of the reasons so many young people become addicted to heroin is because they are first becoming addicted to Oxycodone. The attitude is that a couple of pills won’t be missed and won’t hurt, so they simply go shopping in the medicine cabinet at home or grandma’s house. 

"But a couple turns into more and more, and eventually the free source is used up, or they have been caught.  By then they are addicted, and with their source dried up and other sources too expensive, the only thing that will give them the feeling they need is heroin," he added.  "They don’t care that they have to put needles in their bodies.  They don’t care that they can die.  All that matters is getting that high.  By then it’s too late."

Constantineau begged parents to put any prescription medication under lock and key. In addition, he recommended keeping a record of what and how much you have, and to dispose of unused medication. d

"Every one of us wants to say 'not my kids, I taught them better than that.'  The fact is, our parents said the same thing, and we all still did some pretty stupid things under peer pressure.  Now, the stupid things are getting worse, and the peer pressure is still there, as bad as ever."     

With numbers of incidents increasing in Muskego, Constantineau urged, "We are losing too many young people to something that is 100 percent preventable.  We have the power to help stop it.  What are we waiting for?"