Some places in the country are seeing a spike in heroin cases including Louisville.
Louisville Metro Police Department’s Narcotics Division has seen their heroin cases triple from year to year.
If you know the right people you can get heroin in a matter of minutes and its becoming cheaper than other drugs.
With heroin hubs in Detroit and Dayton, Ohio, Louisville police are seeing more cases here.
Heroin is dangerous, highly addictive and abuse of the drug is on the rise in some places.
Lt. Brian Nunn with Metro Police’s Narcotics Division says that in 2008 their unit handled 12 heroin cases and in 2009 they had 37 cases.
In the last year, they've recovered 2 pounds of heroin which has a street value of $90,000 dollars.
Police attribute the increase in cases to the crackdown on prescription pills and other types of opiates.
They say it’s sometimes harder and more expensive to get prescription pills than heroin.
“The cost of that is a lot more than heroin fold or it’s a lot cheaper high,” said Nunn.
A fold of heroin could run $25 dollars while a pill of Oxycontin now could go for $65.
Louisville police say they are seeing more of the white powder heroin, something Clyde Harper and Genita Huggins were very familiar with.
Clyde started using heroin when he was 20, he said, “the honeymoon for me went on for a few years.”
He's been sober for almost 7 years now and says he is not surprised about the rise in heroin cases.
He wouldn't be surprised to see more young people involved in heroin.
“Now that it’s been around a while and drugs are so prevalent in our society now kids are now getting a hold to it a lot younger.”
Genita Huggins has been sober from heroin for almost a year.
She said, “it took me to stealing from my mom stealing from my kids.”
She says she didn't fully understand the risk associated with heroin but she hopes others do.
“I didn't know my life was in danger I thought that what we do.”
Both of these recovering addicts came to the Healing Place in Louisville from out of town to get sober and so far they've found success.
But Louisville police say over the summer they did see an increase in overdoses but they can't directly to connect the deaths to heroin abuse.
