Heroin On the Rise in South Orange County

When I think of the area in which I live I don't think of heroin or other opioids as being a major problem. That's something for the inner cities.

But I'm wrong:

Our sons and daughters are killing themselves and we've got to do something.

Let's start by acknowledging our growing heroin problem.

In reviewing coroner records for South County and beach cities from 2007-2010, I found some 80 accidental opioid-related deaths for people 24 and younger.

One boy was 14.

And that grim tally doesn't include deaths this year – such as the 16-year-old South County girl who died March 26 of a suspected heroin overdose.

The death rate, of course, is just the visible tip. In a part of the world known for fun in the sun – and money — teens and young adults are getting wrecked on opioid-class prescriptions, and especially heroin, like never before.

A few months ago, when Orange County Sheriff's Deputy Lance Christensen received a call from the county's Special Enforcement Team about someone hiding a sock in the bushes on Meandering Trail in Las Flores, it was particularly troubling.

Deputies from the department's Special Enforcement Team eventually found a high school freshman, just 16, prepped to sell dozens of tiny, colorful balloons filled with heroin.

And Christensen knew the kid had plenty of waiting buyers.

I've met Deputy Christensen a couple of times. He's the deputy that was assigned to the high school where my wife worked and often had to deal with drug problems involving campus students.  Apparently there is no shortage of work for him and his fellow deputies.

Here are some disturbing numbers provided by the author:

I examined the coroner's compilation of overdoses in South County and several beach cities. I focused on those areas because experts said that's where heroin is the biggest problem and that its use has been growing since last summer.

I found that heroin, opiates, or a mix of similar drugs figured in the accidental deaths of some 80 people 24 and younger.

The 14-year-old victim lived in Silverado, a place most of us think as bucolic canyon country. He died less than a year ago from something called tremadol, an opioid.

I also discovered a tragic trend for South County and beach city opioid-related deaths: Even before last summer, the numbers started to climb.

In 2007, there were 18 deaths. Four were women the same age or younger than my 23-year-old daughter.

The following year, 17 young adults died. Among the cities where they died: Mission Viejo, Laguna Beach, Rancho Santa Margarita, Foothill Ranch, Lake Forest, Newport Beach.

In 2009, 21 young people died. One was a 16-year-old girl from Huntington Beach. She overdosed on a variety of drugs including hydromorphone, an opioid.

Last year was the worst. Twenty-four young adults died in South County and beach communities of opioid-related causes.

Other places that saw young people accidentally overdose in 2010 included San Juan Capistrano, Dana Point, Laguna Hills and Laguna Niguel.

While most victims were male, young women and girls accounted for nearly 20 percent of the accidental deaths.

In addition, there were seven opioid-related suicides. One incident on May 25, 2008 resulted in the deaths of two 21-year-old women in San Clemente.

Read the rest of it here.