Ortonville- Police and medics were called to the Citgo gas station, 495 S. Ortonville Road, last week after a 24-year-old man overdosed on heroin in the parking lot.
‘Heroin is becoming more and more prevalent throughout the county and we are seeing more and more of it up here in Brandon,? said Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Greg Glover, Brandon substation commander. ‘It’s very addictive and dangerous and if you mess around with a drug like that, only two things are coming to you? jail and death. Once you’ve tried it, your life is being flushed down the toilet.?
According to the OCSO police report, Brandon deputies responded to the gas station at 4:53 a.m., Jan. 16, and found a man attempting to pull the passenger from a Grand Prix vehicle that was running. The passenger was pale and unresponsive.
The deputy observed the passenger had shallow breathing, was soaked in sweat, and had a belt wrapped around his left arm. The other male, 23, identified himself as a friend of the unresponsive subject, and said they had bought heroin in Detroit and his friend had just overdosed at this location. He called 9-1-1 after they each shot heroin with separate needles and his companion lost consciousness. Both men are Brandon Township residents.
The deputy feared the man who overdosed would stop breathing before arrival of medics and rubbed his sternum, but the man only moaned. Upon arrival of medics, the man’s clothes were cut off for fear of an open needle on his person. A syringe cap was found in the pocket of his sweatshirt and a brown powder substance, which later tested positive as heroin, was located in the pocket of his jeans.
An open syringe was found on the floor of the vehicle, behind the driver’s seat. Marijuana was found in the center console. The man who overdosed was transported to Genesys Regional Medical Center for treatment. A warrant will be sought for possession of heroin. His friend declined treatment. He will be charged with possession of marijuana.
Lt. Brent Miles of the OCSO Narcotics Enforcement Team, said N.E.T. conducted 801 drug investigations in the county in 2014. While these included a wide range of drugs, he said heroin cases are up more than 230 percent from 2013.
He attributes the increase due to the drug being cheap’about $10 per bindle? and easy to obtain. Users typically begin by snorting the drug and as their addiction grows, by injecting it with needles.
‘That’s where you get overdoses, with it being injected directly into the bloodstream,? Miles said. ‘If it’s very pure, it will kill anyone. If a heroin user has been using for 20 years and they get a hot dose, it will kill them. There are cases where they use long-term, but it’s rare, they usually don’t last that long.?
Miles notes that last year, N.E.T. Investigated three suspected heroin overdose deaths that all occurred on the same day in the county. One of the deaths was found to have been an overdose of cocaine (injected). Another was straight heroin. The third death was attributed to an overdose of fentanyl. Like heroin, fentanyl is an opiate, but much more potent. Fentanyl is often laced in heroin.
‘By the time it gets here and to the street, it’s cut down, but you get some that isn’t,? said Miles. ?(Addicts) use and it’s so pure it kills them, or it has added fentanyl.?
The OCSO has begun a program to equip every patrol car with Narcan, a medication that counteracts opioid overdoses, but first, deputies and medics must be informed that a heroin overdose is what has taken place.
‘Sometimes family members and friends of addicts hide stuff, and when we get to the scene, we don’t know what we are dealing with,? said Miles.
Miles and Glover both said that parents can help their children avoid such a devastating end by talking to them early (before they enter middle school) and often about the dangers of drugs.
‘I have two teenagers and I pray a lot, worry a lot and talk about drugs a lot? about how dangerous they are and how addictive,? he said. ‘I’m constantly trying to regulate the friends they are with and trying to lead them down the right path. We live in a world where marijuana is allegedly a medicine and kids think it’s not bad. We still view it as a gateway drug, and one that leads to them doing harder drugs. As parents, we have to educate. Do heroin even one time and you can die from it.?