Heroin a Growing Problem in St. Louis County

St. Louis County Police Chief Tim Fitch once talked with a young woman arrested for buying heroin. She was from Ballwin, and told Finch she got hooked because she was battling depression.

The first time she tried it, according to Fitch, she got a high that she hasn’t been able to achieve since. According to a heroin addiction website, one of the drug's most insidious qualities is that is sends the addict on a quest to repeat that first high, usually a fruitless journey.

Heroin is a synthetic opiate, presenters at the forum told the audience, known commonly on the St. Louis streets as “buttons” or “beans.” Users can get high by snorting the drug, smoking it, or injecting into a vein.

Heroin addiction isn’t a light switch you can turn off and on, Fitch told a crowded audience at  last week.

St. Louis County is on track to double its number of heroin deaths this year compared with 2010. The county saw 60 heroin related deaths last year. 

Lt. Chuck Boschert, commander of the St. Louis County Police drug unit, said the county had 35 heroin-related deaths between January and April 2011.

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The forum at Pattonville addressed heroin use among teens. The forum featured St. Louis County Police, the National Council on Alcoholism & Drug Abuse — St. Louis Area(NCADA-St. Louis) and the St. Louis County Children’s Service Fund .

"I think drug users in general are mid teens through early 20s, but that's not necessarily a hard fast rule," said Manchester Police Chief Tim Walsh. He did not attend the forum, but tells Town and Country - Manchester Patch that he is aware heroin use is on the rise.

"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," Walsh said. "It isn't something that we run into all the time, but it does occasionally rear its ugly head."

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

"We're not really large enough to see trends like that, so I cannot say that I've seen any trends in the increase in heroin usage," Town and Country Police Cpt. Gary Hoelzer explained.

Parkway School District Spokesperson Cathy Kelly tells Patch that the district is aware of the growing problem from police and media reports, but has not dealt with the drug at school.

"I'm sure it's there, but we've never seen any evidence of it in our schools," Kelly said. "As a matter of fact, we've never had a discipline matter for it."

Part of the heroin problem could be as close as a medicine cabinet. Dan Duncan, director of community services for NCADA-St. Louis, said between 50 and 60 percent of heroin users started with prescription pain killers. 

Kate Tansey, executive director for the St. Louis County Children’s Service Fund, addressed the crowd at last week's forum. She said heroin affects both the mind and the body. The human brain, she said, makes its own opiates naturally. These chemicals let us feel pleasure and pain, she said. Opiates like heroin cause the brain to stop producing these chemicals.

Duncan gave a list of signs parents can look for that suggest opiate use. 

• Pinpoint pupils
• Nodding off, oversleeping and lethargy
• Easily irritated or depressed
• Withdrawl from sports, hobbies, friends
• Grades decline, change in peers
• Things/money disappearing
• Secretive change in hygiene
• Long sleeves during summer

Getting help

Patch reported previously that .

• St. Louis: 1-314-830-3232
• St. Charles: 1-636-697-8406
• Metro East: 1-618-398-9409

*Local Editor Gabrielle Biondo contributed to this report.