Counselors: More young people turning to heroin

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - Authorities and drug counselors say young people in the Santa Fe area are increasingly turning to heroin after initially forming prescription drug addictions.

Brian Parkhill, executive director and a counselor with Millennium Treatment Services, told The Santa Fe New Mexican for a story published Saturday that most of the opiate addicts who are referred to the drug-treatment center started with some kind of prescription pain medication. He said they become addicted but can't afford it over a long period of time, so they turn to a cheaper alternative — heroin.

Parkhill added that just two years ago there were five or fewer heroin addicts out of the 80 to 100 patients he typically treats at any given time. Now, about a quarter of his clients are opiate addicts who are usually 18 to 25 years old.

Caprice Howland, who has been receiving treatment at Millennium since November, said her heroin addiction began with prescription pills, which she began taking socially.

"Everybody was doing it so I wanted to see what it was about," she said. "And then I got hooked real fast. You have no choice but to take pills after a while because you get sick, so it ended up something bigger than it should have been."

Eventually, the pills became too expensive, so she turned to heroin.

"Finally one day, I tried it, and it was way more intense for a lot cheaper," she said.

First Judicial District Judge Michael Vigil, who has referred defendants to an Adult Drug Court that was started more than a decade ago, told the newspaper he also has noticed a worsening heroin problem among the city's youth, and the drug has made its way into high schools.

"We always had alcohol, and we even had cocaine amongst some of the teenagers, but they pretty much stayed away from heroin ... I don't know of anyone who really understands why this is happening," he said.

Susan Billings, Adult Drug Court coordinator for the First Judicial District, said in 2007, 28 percent of participants were opiate users. In 2009, the number climbed to 46 percent and in 2011, 65 percent. She added that the average age for Drug Court's opiate users is 23 to 25.

Meanwhile, despite a good reputation and a relatively low recidivism rate — about one-third within three years — the drug court can only serve a maximum of 32 people at a time.

The current operating budget is $150,000 a year, but that is for both the Santa Fe and Rio Arriba First District drug courts. Santa Fe gets about $102,000 of the money.

"It's unfortunate that we don't have the money to have as many slots as we need, but it's a great program," Vigil said.

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Information from: The Santa Fe New Mexican