West County Named as Heroin Hot Spot

More than 300 people gathered at Oakville High School to learn prevention and the signs of heroin, which has killed 49 people already this year in St. Louis County.

The meeting was the third and largest in the area hosted by St. Louis County Police and the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse (NCADA). Nearly two-thirds of the audience raised their hands when Police Chief Tim Fitch asked if they’d been directly affected by the drug.

“It’s an overwhelmingly large issue in South and West County,” said Capt. Chuck Borschert, commander of the West County Precinct. Borschert was also in charge of the Drug Unit before moving to West County.

"If you go back years ago, let's face it, it was a city problem, but it has spread out to the county. I haven't noticed anything over the past two months, but over the last four or five years, yes, there's  heroin out here," Manchester Police Chief Tim Walsh previously told Patch.

Town and Country police have also told Patch that due to the size of the community, about 10,000 people, they cannot accurately comment on the issue.

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Heroin is a synthetic opiate that comes primarily from South America and Mexico. It is extremely addictive and made from morphine. Although it has been around for more than 100 years, its potency, cost and intake method has evolved in recent years, causing a sharp increase in usage. 

Heroin can now be smoked and snorted, as opposed to just injected.

“It doesn’t have to be used with a needle,” said Dan Duncan with the NCADA. “They’re snorting it, they’re smoking it, it makes it more relatable to other drugs they may have used such as marijuana or cocaine.”

Users are now buying and concealing heroin in empty capsules that can be purchased at pharmacies.

Called “buttons,” Borschert said 1/20 of a gram in these capsules costs only $10 and creates a high that lasts 3-5 hours.

Along with a cheaper price, heroin is getting more potent. In 2001, the average purity level was 13 percent. Last year, it jumped to 38 percent and now, more than 15 percent of heroin found is 75 percent pure.

An inconsistency in purity explains most heroin overdoses, Borschert said. It’s why several first-time users die. 

The cheapened cost, along with a more addictive substance also leads to a more desperate user.

Borschert said heroin users often commit crimes such as vehicle larceny, copper thefts and shoplifting and many local crimes can be traced back to the drug.

“People you’d never think… your little high school student would stick a gun in somebody's face and rob them on the street corner. They’ll do it because they are so desperate for money for heroin,” Borschert said.

Police said their goal is to target sellers and help users get treatment.

St. Louis County saw 60 heroin overdoses in 2010 with 75 percent of those deaths being men. The most common age range for deaths was between 25 and 30.

“It’s not a white problem, it’s not a black problem, it’s a problem,” Borschert said.

Mehlville High School School Resource Officer Charlie Rodriguez said he didn’t see it as much in the school district as he would on the street.

“There’s one or two mainline cases, but I don’t know what percent of students have tried it by snorting or smoking,” he said.

“It’s everywhere kids have money. They don’t understand the danger of it,” said Charles Seger, an Oakville resident who attended the meeting.

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Duncan named four steps to help combat the drug. He said parental vigilance and an increase in awareness was the first and most important step. School prevention and law enforcement helped decrease usage, with treatment as the final option.

Kate Tansey with the St. Louis County Children’s Service Fund, spoke at the meeting and said heroin addition was a brain disease that could be treated. However, the withdrawal symptoms were significantly unique, causing pain and shutting down the body.

“Every cell in their body is saying ‘use and use now or we could die,’” she said.

Marilyn Smashey had to face just that. To close the meeting, Smashey got up to tell the story of her son Taylor, who died at 18 from a heroin overdose.

In fourth grade, Taylor was at a high school reading level. Soon, he became bored in school and acted out, she said.

After tumultuous teenage years, Smashey thought her son had turned around after three weeks in jail for stealing vodka. The judge ordered a curfew and other rules for Taylor.

Smashey would search his car, in his door handles and along the carpet edges of his room for drugs.

After disappearing for a day, she found her son dead in his bedroom.

“He was gone, and I could not grasp what I was witnessing. I walked in and found my son dead,” she said. “When you look into the face of death and it’s your child, you will never be the same.

“I go to bed every day with that same image of seeing Taylor laying in his bed. And I wake up every morning and that same image is there. I cannot turn it off.

“Heroin is a horrible, horrible problem and I will never be the same person that I was.”

To Report a Drug Dealer
Call the hotline: 314-863-DOPE
Email drugenforcement@stlouisco.com
Call the office at 314-427-4101

Signs of Heroin Use
Syringes
Pinpoint pupils
Sleepy
Hygiene changes
Burnt or missing spoons
Gum wrappers or foil (to heat the substance)
Baggies
Shoelaces or belts
Razor blades
Candles
Missing checks
Eye drops
Sunglasses
Long pants/sleeves
Pawn tickets
Added anxiety