Heroin addiction has been recognized as an epidemic in Madison and has been linked with recent robberies in the city, police said Thursday.
According to Madison Police Department Lt. Mary Lou Ricksecker, assigned to the Dane County Narcotics and Gang Task Force, the number of heroin and opiate related overdoses seen by police has risen in the last few years.
From 2007 through September 2009, the number of heroin and opiate overdoses — based on recorded police incidents — was 31, with an accompanying 21 deaths, according to Ricksecker. From January to September 2009, the number of overdoses shot up to 106, with 15 deaths from overdose.
Ricksecker said these numbers only reflect what the police have seen, and absent from these counts are the statistics from the medical and healthcare community.
MPD Chief Noble Wray said one of the most violent times in Madison was in the 1980s with the rise of crack cocaine use and the police are highlighting this heroin problem now so it does not reach that point.
“We are in the early stages of really realizing the scope of this particular problem,” Wray said. “We are trying to make sure the community knows what is going on.”
According to Ricksecker, investigations into recent robberies and burglaries have indicated a majority of them are related to the need to feed a drug habit.
One such example is Gregory Bickford, the man believed to have robbed Cousins Subs in mid-October who was ultimately killed by an officer in the struggle. An investigation points to Bickford being a heroin-dependent individual who stole a gun for the purposes of robberies in order to support his drug habit.
Michael Florek, president of Tellurian UCAN Inc., a non-profit agency dealing with substance abuse and addictions, said the problem of heroin addictions relates to the ready availability of leftover prescribed opiates.
Florek said people begin using these drugs recreationally and do not understand how it can propel a person into addiction in a short period of time. The stigma of heroin is gone, he added, and this can increase the level of use.
“No longer is the heroin addict the old streetwise junkie that has always seemed to be with us,” Florek said. “The new heroin addict is that young, bright, suburban kid from a good family that did so well in high school and then one day woke up and was a junkie.”
Florek called the problem an epidemic, saying calls to him from families looking for help with addicted loved ones have gone from two to three times a month to 15 to 20 calls a week.
Wray said the problem can be combated by increased enforcement, throwing away any leftover opiates and getting effective treatment for the addicted person.
While heroin is now increasingly on police radar, Wray said the overall reported crime for the city has gone down from the first three quarters in 2008 to the corresponding time in 2009, with an “uptick” only in the number of robberies in September. With 45 robberies in one month, September saw the highest number than any other month in two years.
Reported robberies in 2008 totaled 277, with 270 in 2009. The number of murders decreased from eight in 2008 to one in 2009.
