Rash Of Heroin Overdoses Leave 1 Dead, 7 Hospitalized
WAYNE COUNTY (WWJ) - One dead ... seven hospitalized. That's the toll from a rash of heroin overdoses over a two-day period in Washtenaw County.
A local mom says her two children's heroin addiction has cost her her home, all her belongings and her family.
WWJ's Sandra McNeill reports that the Oakland county mom, who does not wish to be identified, found out about 10 years ago that her then 17-year-old daughter was using heroin.
"I'd actually go down to the houses, with one of my children, to retrieve the (stolen) items and pay for them ... and yeah, I'm still alive," she said.
In 10 years her daughter has overdosed three times and her children have lost friends to the drug.
"If I give up," said the mom whose two children are both in rehab, "and one of my children dies - I would really feel horrible about myself, so I just keep trying."
Marci Scalera the director of the Livingston, Lenawee, Washtenaw Substance Abuse Agency believes the growing heroin problem is part of a national epidemic.
"It definitely has been a growing problem over the last several years with the influx of prescription drug abuse and then folks just begin using heroin because they become physiologically dependent on the medication or the opiate."
Scalera says the number of people seeking treatment for heroin addiction has risen 30 to 40 percent over the past five years.
