Hooked on Heroin Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Southern W.Va. Just Days Away from Non-Medical, Inpatient Treatment

While other parts of the state are seeing a rapid increase in heroin overdoses, southern West Virginia continues to battle a prescription pill problem. As access to addiction treatment in the state’s larger cities like Charleston and Huntington grows, rural parts of West Virginia are still struggling with a lack of resources. But in Bluefield, a much anticipated alternative for recovery is just days away from opening, bringing 20 male beds to southern West Virginia. It’s not much, but those involved expect it to make a difference in the community.

The program at the Four Seasons Recovery Place is modeled after the Healing Place in Huntington. A former school in Bluefield was renovated to make room for 20 men looking to recover from addiction.

A former school in Bluefield is being renovated to accommodate Four Seasons Recovery Place, an inpatient treatment facility for men.

It’s a non-medical detox facility in southern West Virginia. It’s funded by the West Virginia Justice Reinvestment Act, which covers the first three years of cost allowing patients to access treatment for free.

The state plans to double the amount of beds in the second year and provide space for 60 men in year three.

Patients are referred to and qualify for the Four Seasons program after a run in with the law.

“I was dying to get out I just didn’t know how to get out,” said recovering addict Justin Clark.

Clark spent most of the last 18 years of his life addicted to prescription pain pills. After being arrested for the second time for driving under the influence of drugs, Clark decided he wanted to get clean, and the justice system helped him find a way.

He qualified for and recently completed the recovery program at the Healing Place in Huntington.

After being arrested for the second time for driving under the influence of drugs, Justin Clark decided he wanted to get clean, and the justice system helped him find a way.

Clark is a replication team member at Four Seasons Recovery Center. He helps determine if applicants qualify for the program. He also serves as a mentor to those receiving treatment.

Clark said he believes in this program because it’s peer driven and based on accountability and unity.

“So for me to give back to my own community for so much I’ve took away for so many years is why I took this job,” Clark said.

Director Terry Danielson is also a recovering addict and has been clean since November 2011. So far, Danielson said taking on this new leadership role has been helpful in his own recovery.

“I don’t care to share my story if that’s what it takes to get somebody to relate,” Danielson said.

Danielson was named the director shortly after the expected director was arrested for failing a drug test. The Four Seasons Recovery Place is expected to open June 1. It’s located on Preston Street in Bluefield.

One Woman's Mission Against Heroin Addiction

Editor’s Note: This week we have been airing a series of stories concerning heroin, and the problems it’s creating in the state. Today we conclude our series by introducing you to a woman who’s fighting back against the drug’s influence in one of the hardest hit communities.

Patti Barnabei raised her three children in Weirton, in the state’s northern Panhandle. Over the years, she says heroin has become a major problem in her town, and it has taken the lives of some young people she’s known. Barnabei founded a group called Never Alone West Virginia, a non-profit trying to raise awareness of heroin’s problems in the community. It started in 2010 when she heard the song by Jim Brickman.

“It just confirmed that was the name of this group was supposed to be called. So many people struggling with this addiction feel so alone. They feel the addiction is not going to end and they are embarrassed,” she said.

“I tell people when you come you don’t have to be embarrassed. We are there to be your friend, to help you get through this. The main thing is you have to have hope.”

Never Alone conducts a support group in Weirton, which brings together heroin addicts and their family members. Barnabei says the group meets weekly to pray, and work with anyone facing problems with heroin.

“I don’t have anybody personally in my family that’s struggling with addiction, but I just feel at times there were times when I wanted to give up, and say ok I think I’ve had enough, or we’re not getting a big attendance at the support groups,” she said.

“It seems that God has always opened up a door. When I think something’s closing God opens another door.”

Barnabei says the group recently received a donation from a family that lost a loved one to the addiction. Never Alone West Virginia currently only works in Weirton and New Cumberland, but Barnabei wants the group to expand and she’s trying to get more communities involved. Never Alone does a walk every year to raise money and awareness. She says it’s imperative that people who are facing heroin addiction have hope.

“Without hope we can’t get anything accomplished. They also have to have people surrounding them that will support them with a strong faith, and believing their loved ones can be healed, and become whole again. Without that you can’t get through life,” she said.

Nearly 300 people have died from heroin overdoses, in West Virginia, since 2001. Most of them are young males.

What Are The Solutions To Solving The State's Heroin Problem?

There were few heroin deaths in West Virginia in 2001. That’s about the time William Ihlenfeld started working as a prosecutor in the state’s legal system. He’s now the federal district attorney for the northern district.

Ihlenfeld’s seen the distribution of heroin increase during those years, and he’s fighting a war so to speak, against those who are bringing it here. He says there are established pipelines from Mexico that bring heroin to places like Baltimore or Chicago, where it eventually makes its way to northern West Virginia.

“They can sell a stamp bag, that’s how we typically see it sold in West Virginia, they can sell a stamp bag for a lot more in northern West Virginia than they can on the streets in Chicago, or Cleveland. They put that in our marketing plan, and they are very good at what they do. That’s what we are up against,” he said.

A stamp bag is a small quantity of heroin, about the size of a postage stamp that a user will use to get high and essentially taste the goods of what’s being sold. Ihlenfeld says heroin users will buy either one stamp, or a batch of them, or even a brick, which is a much larger quantity of heroin. When asked why the state seems to be dealing with more heroin deaths than ever before, Ihlenfeld points to a few basic facts.

“We are seizing more heroin. We are seeing more of it being available on the street. I think another reason why we are seeing so many deaths is because of what it is being cut with. What is being combined with the heroin by the person who is selling it. It’s so unpredictable,” he said.

But his office is also seeing higher purity levels of heroin on the street. That means there’s more of it out there that isn’t mixed with anything, which affects a user who’s not used to taking in that much pure heroin. And Ihlenfeld says due to the fact that heroin is coming from other parts of not only the country, but the world, that creates very tough challenges.

“A lot of it is originating in another country so we have to work with not only our partners in the region, but our law enforcement partners in Pennsylvania, and Ohio, and Michigan. We need to tackle it from a regional angle,” said Ihlenfeld.

“Our drug task forces in the northern district of West Virginia have changed our priorities and we’ve moved heroin to the top of our list.”

Ihelnfeld says his office and other law enforcement agencies are also doing a better job at educating the public about the threats.

But Ihlenfeld says combating heroin involves more than just enforcing the law. He points out West Virginia needs more treatment facilities where addicts can get treatment.

“We have a tremendous demand for this substance. Even people who may very well want to stop using it, they simply can’t and they don’t have anywhere to go,” he said.

“It’s really a legislative issue, and I can only hope the state legislature will continue to look at this problem, so people who are addicted can go, and get to the point where they can function without using heroin.”

According to the state’s Bureau for Behavioral Health and Health Facilities, there are 13 comprehensive behavioral health centers which provide assessment, outpatient services, medication management, and detoxification services.

Dr. Carl Sullivan, Director of Addiction Programs, at West Virginia University, acknowledges the state needs more resources for people fighting addictions. He says some help is available now, though.

“We may want to detoxify them and get them into therapy. 12 step therapy has worked, so there are talk therapies that will help if there hasn’t been a long history,” Dr. Sullivan said.

“If there’s been a history of using that’s gone on for years, often times these people will need medication, and talk therapy.”

Dr. Sullivan says many addicts want to quit, but due to the pleasure they get from the drug, it’s very difficult for them to commit to stopping.

Sullivan says heroin addiction is difficult to fight because it’s a disease of the brain- when addicts take the drug it triggers pleasure in the reward center of the brain. Over time it takes more and more heroin to create a sense of happiness, forcing the addict to need more of the drug and making it harder to quit.

There’s a specific message Sullivan he wants to send to those who may be afraid to take the first step towards recovery.

“If you have a loved one or if you yourself are dependent, I would suggest you utter these three words, “I need help.” These people can get help. Many people are addicted really believe they are hopeless, and think they can’t get better. The reality is they can.”

'It's Like Playing Russian Roulette With Your Life'—The Struggle With Heroin Addiction

Editor’s Note: West Virginia Public Radio is airing a four part series on heroin addiction in West Virginia. The number of deaths attributed to heroin overdoses in West Virginia is rising steadily. This story is a conversation with some of those seeking help and treatment for their addiction to the drug.

According to statistics from the West Virginia Health Statistics Center, nearly 300 people from West Virginia have died from heroin overdoses since 2001. Almost all of them were males. These deaths occur all over the state, with the five leading counties being Berkeley, Cabell, Monongalia, Kanawha and Jefferson. Law enforcement officials say they are seeing more cases involving heroin across the state, with the drug coming primarily from Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and other nearby cities. While those officials are trying to stop the sale and use of heroin, many addicts seek treatment because they desperately want to stop.

There are three medications that are used for people struggling with heroin addiction. One is Methadone, which has been used widely for years. Another is buprenorphine, which some believe is very useful. The third is called naltrexone.

West Virginia Public Radio spoke recently with several people who are trying to kick the heroin habit. Out of respect to their privacy, we won’t be using their actual names in this story.

One person who is seeking treatment is a mother from Hampshire County, who comes to Morgantown to get help. She is being treated at Chestnut Ridge Center in Morgantown. Like many heroin users, her addiction began with pills.

“When I shot it up for the first time, it was like it made all my problems go away. Everything was better for that couple of minutes where I had that rush. Nothing could beat that rush. Once you do heroin, you will never like another drug in my opinion,” she said.

She says she’s 40 days clean now. But nothing comes easily for her. She recalls having a difficult time simply going to a grocery store, because dealers were there selling drugs.

“Now at 40 days clean I can honestly say I haven’t had any urges, and I think in my mind I’m ready to get clean. If you’re not ready, you’re not going to. You have to accept that you have a problem and get help for it,” she said.

Another person seeking treatment is a young man from Harrison County. He says using heroin almost killed him.

“I was a needle user since I was 15, 16, and actually two years ago I had a stroke and I almost died from using needle. A blood clot. It’s hard. Every day it’s a struggle. It’s hard to rebuild what you had. I had nothing really, just being ill all day, it’s really hard,” he said.

“It’s like playing Russian Roulette with your life. It’s either you choose your life, or you’re working on death. It’s a downhill slope.”

And then there’s a 32-year-old woman from Parkersburg, who is in treatment for the second time. She says the lowest point was when she found herself stealing money for her addiction from loved ones.

“How low have I sunk to get to this point? I’m stealing from people I care about,” she said.

“I just wanted someone to recognize that I needed help. Once all those things are gone, you really start to figure out that you need help.”

But she’s got hope. And she says she has a message for people who are struggling.

“You are not alone,” she said.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of. It makes a lot of things harder in your life, but being in recovery, my life has grown exponentially. Being a drug addict does not mean that your life is over.”

West Virginia Fighting a War Against Heroin Addiction, Overdose Deaths

Editor’s Note: We are airing a four part series on West Virginia Public Radio, about the drug heroin and how it is affecting West Virginia. A recent Associated Press story reported the number of heroin deaths in the state have nearly doubled since 2010. In the first story, Ben Adducchio reports on why heroin is getting into the hands of so many people.

Since 2001, the number of deaths associated to heroin overdose have increased. According to statistics from the Health Statistics Center in the Department of Health and Human Resources, there were only 9 deaths in 2001, as compared to 67 in 2012.

Heroin is tan in color, and granular in texture, according to Carrie Ozalas in the West Virginia State Police Forensic Lab. She’s the section supervisor of the drug identification section, so any heroin taken to the lab is sent her way.

“It comes in a small quantity. Heroin when we get it, it weighs point zero one grams. A sugar packet is one gram. So it weighs a tenth of that. It comes in packaging, a wax paper bag called a bindle. A very small paper bag,” she says.

“Sometimes it’s stamped with different marking. Something like 9 mm or Flintstones. Something that’s unique to the drug dealer, or the area where he’s coming from. We’ve seen them with all kinds of different things. Emblems for cars. Officers can tie those back to the areas where they initially came from.”

MORE THAN BEFORE

West Virginia’s heroin is coming here from Mexico, according to law enforcement officials. It reaches Chicago, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Baltimore, and then trickles into the state from those cities.

And it’s coming in like never before, Carrie Ozalas says.

“As far as heroin is concerned, I started in 2001 and in 2001 I rarely saw heroin. It was here, but it wasn’t here in a large amount. We saw more cocaine, cocaine base. That’s a lot of what we are seeing,” she said.

“Now we are starting to see the heroin. The heroin has kind of replaced the oxycodone, we are still seeing them but we are seeing them a lot less than we were two years ago. The heroin, we’re seeing, it’s just crazy, how much we’ve seen of it. I would say two thirds to three fourths of the cases we are receiving right now on a daily basis are either all heroin or has heroin mixed into it.”

WHY PEOPLE ARE HOOKED

Dr. Carl Sullivan is the director of addiction programs at West Virginia University. He says opioids like heroin and prescription drugs do a lot of different things to the body.

“They provide pain relief, euphoria, which is what most people are looking for, they also cause constipation, they cause your eyeballs to constrict. They do a lot of things, they relieve anxiety,” Dr. Sullivan said.

Heroin is an opiod and it’s illegal but it wasn’t always that way. Dr. Sullivan says it was once legal to use heroin, and it was a substitute for morphine many years ago. Dr. Sullivan says heroin proved to be more addictive than morphine and doctors misjudged just how addictive it could be.

And not only is it addictive, Sullivan says it serves as a substitute for pills when they aren’t available to people needing that fix.

OPIOID ADDICTION

Dr. Sullivan says 20 years ago, prescription opioids were given to patients seeking help for pain, at a fast rate. When people weren’t able to get the medicine they wanted, they turned to heroin.

“We have a large group of patients who have been exposed to opioids and they are dependent on opioids. What’s come into fill that gap as the number of prescriptions has gone down is heroin,” said Dr. Sullivan.

“Heroin is illegal, it is much cheaper to buy on the street than most prescription opioids were and heroin has met the demand for patients who can’t get the drugs.”

And heroin is being used all over the state. According to the data from the West Virginia Health Statistics Center, 59 of the state’s heroin overdose deaths since 2001 occurred in Berkeley County, in the Eastern Panhandle, while 41 occurred in Cabell, and 30 were from Monongalia. Then Kanawha, and Jefferson round out the top 5.