Twin Cities heroin, painkiller deaths surged in first half of 2013

The pace of overdose deaths from heroin and prescription pain medicine abuse rose in the Twin Cities in the first part of last year, even as a battle raged to slow the deadly epidemic.

That's the finding of a new drug-trends study released Thursday, which among other things reported that 69 people died of opiate-related overdoses in Hennepin County alone in the first half of 2013, compared to 84 for all of 2012.

The rise in opiate-related deaths came even as drug experts, law enforcement and others fought to slow a problem they say is fueled by legal drugs in the bathroom cabinet and an underground market flooded with cheap heroin.

"We've known about this opiate thing for a while, and something's not penetrating, and I don't know what that is," said Dr. Joseph Lee, medical director of Hazelden's youth facility in Plymouth. "It's tragic to see families torn apart by this."

About half of the overdose deaths in Hennepin County were people in their 20s, said Carol Falkowski, the founder of Drug Abuse Dialogues and the author of the Minnesota Drug Abuse Trends report.

"Many people are introduced to opiate addiction through prescription pain medication," she said. "And then they switch to heroin because it's equally available and it's more affordable."

Among Falkowski's findings:

• In Ramsey County, the numbers went the opposite way from Hennepin County's: 22 people died of opiate-related overdoses in the first six months of last year, compared to 45 in 2012.

• Admissions to Minneapolis and St. Paul treatment centers by substance abuse problem broke down this way in the first half of 2013: 13.6 percent for heroin, 10.1 percent for other opiates, 9.4 percent for meth, 4.1 percent for cocaine, 16 percent for marijuana and 2.7 percent for other or unknown substances. Alcohol abuse accounted for the most admissions, at 44.2 percent.

• Law enforcement seized more methamphetamine, which has resurged in popularity in some areas, though its use doesn't match its popularity peak in 2005.

• There was a tripling in LSD-related poisonings reported to the Hennepin Regional Poison Center.

• Bath salt use appears to be in decline.

Three teenagers died of overdoses between May and November in St. Francis, Minn., alone. Parents there responded by creating a nonprofit to combat the spread of heroin, launching a Facebook page and organizing two community forums.

"This is a trend unlike we've seen before," said Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek. "Every single one of these dang things is preventable. That's what's so tragic about it."

New strategies to fight the epidemic have included charging drug dealers with third-degree murder.

"We are trying to make it real clear that we will prosecute those cases," said Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman. "I think the word does get out to some of the dealers that, 'Hey, we're going to come after you on this stuff.'"

State Sen. Chris Eaton, DFL-Brooklyn Center, whose daughter died of a heroin overdose in 2007, has proposed a bill that would allow law enforcement to carry naloxone, a drug that can quickly reverse the effects of a heroin overdose. "It's a lifesaver," she said.

Eaton's bill would also make it easier for users to call for help, protecting them from prosecution for things found at the scene of an emergency brought on by an overdose.

Eaton expects her bill to come up for a vote this session. "It seems to me to be a no-brainer," she said.

Lee, of Hazelden's youth facility, said the public can't be warned enough about throwing out unused prescription painkillers.

"They all start the same way," he said of the young addicts he treats. "Their dentist gave them Vicodin for wisdom teeth surgery and they started taking it, and they liked it, so they took more. That's how it starts."

Becky Scheig, who lost her son Andrew to a heroin overdose on March 5 of last year, said she recently spoke to one of his friends who is in treatment and has been clean for three months, she said.