Illegal drugs are not just in the inner city anymore. They are everywhere, including your quiet suburban neighborhoods.
When most people think of drug overdoses, they get an image of some junkie in an alley of a housing project with a needle in his arm. However, Trumbull County Coroner Humphrey Germaniuk said we should all erase that image from our heads because the whole picture of drug-related overdoses has changed.
"What used to be the junkie has changed to the picture of a happy working family, with a daughter who is a 16-year-old soccer star," Germaniuk said.
And law enforcement officials said illegal drugs, like heroin and crack cocaine, are being found in small communities like Southington, West Farmington and Fowler.
Those who work closely with recovering addicts said they have seen the shift, too.
"Our outpatient clinics are in suburbs, and that is where most of the clients are coming from," said Mike Flatley, of the Neil Kennedy Recovery Clinic. "It is not even a 50/50 split at all."
Doug Wentz, community services director for Neil Kennedy Recovery Clinic, said the reality is that the narcotics have found their way to rural areas. No one is really sure why more and more drug problems are creeping up in the once quiet communities. It could be many factors, including the economy or the easy access. Some former users said drug dealers will even home deliver.
One thing is for sure. The rate of accidental overdoes is continuing to slightly increase. So far this year in Trumbull County, 28 people have died from accidental drug overdoses. They've been caucasians, and the coroner is noticing that more and more overdose cases involve men in their 40s and 50s.
"These are the individuals who, for one reason or another, are on prescription drugs due to a back problem, injury, due to some type of chronic pain," Germaniuk said.
Germaniuk said some individuals then get hooked on the prescription drugs and begin abusing them and taking them with other narcotics. And the majority of drug overdoses, include the person taking more than one type of illegal substance, such as heroin, cocaine and marijuana.
"In 2009 when we compared the numbers, basically seven percent were due to single drugs and 90 percent were due to multiple drug overdoses," Germaniuk said.
This story is the first in a three-part series. Check back here Thursday for part two, where we'll explain what types of illegal drugs are out there and what law enforcement officials are doing to keep them off the streets.
