Resurgence of heroin in Jackson County
Posted by Aaron - 28/07/10 at 05:07:30 pm
Nick Dentamaro | Jackson Citizen Patriot
Heroin is back, and according to Jackson County Undersheriff Tom Finco, “it’s back strong in Jackson County.”
Nearly six months ago, I noticed an alarming amount of people telling Jackson County judges the reason they committed their crimes was to feed their heroin addiction. That spawned an exhaustive look at the problem of heroin in the county and the havoc it wreaks.
I wrote a series of stories — run over three days — trying to answer three questions: What is heroin? What is its impact? What is being done to fight it?
Part 1: Addictive drug that can shatter lives ‘is back strong in Jackson’, July 25, 2010.
Forced to choose between milk and heroin, Joe Pritchard called his dealer…
Once confined to dope houses and dens, slithering in the seedy underbelly of American cities in the 1970s, heroin is now a drug abused by all ages, all incomes and all over.
“And it is back strong in Jackson County,” Undersheriff Tom Finco said.
Part Two: ‘IT’S PURE EVIL’: Heroin kills. It strains families and destroys lives, July 26, 2010.
Heroin kills. It strains families and destroys lives. The drug lands people in jail, rehab and the gutter. The drug kept Joe Pritchard from his family, first jail, then rehab. It took Andrew Hirst from his family, killing the 24-year-old in May.
“It’s pure evil,” said Hirst’s father, Michael Hirst. “It’s going to kill you. That’s the bottom line.”
Part Three: Heroin addicts face physical and mental challenges when battling addictive drug , July 28, 2010.
It is the toughest thing they will ever do.
Inside a Victorian house, set among the summer cottages and lakeside homes of northern Michigan’s sleepy town of Petoskey, almost 40 men wage war on addiction.
Among them is a 60-year-old with a lifetime habit of drinking; an 18-year-old with a drug habit that took hold fast and strong; and Joe Pritchard, a 39-year-old father of three from Jackson trying to rid his body and mind of the need for heroin.
“It’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of pain,” said Pritchard, who was sent to Harbor Hall through the Jackson County Drug Recovery Court program.
Beating heroin is not a option. Addicts struggle internally, knowing they will square off with the disease for the rest of their lives. Police chase the drug, its users and its dealers.
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