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"Heroin is highly addictive, cheap, available and pervasive. Even addicts able to get into rehab often re-use the drug.Click to view News 9's report.In Portsmouth, emergency crews have responded to nearly a dozen heroin overdoses since Jan. 1, including four in a 24-hour period.One of the overdoses was fatal. The woman who called 911 for the victim was found dead in Hampton a few weeks later, allegedly with drugs at her side.\u201CFrom the hospital standpoint, certainly we see these people and we see them very significantly and they need treatment and they need help and less law enforcement and more of a positive framework to this,\u201D said Justin Looser, the behavioral health director at Portsmouth Hospital.Thursday afternoon in Portsmouth, experts from the front lines of the heroin fight gathered to brainstorm ways to help addicts caught in its clutches.In the kickoff meeting at the police department, there were representatives from hospitals, the mental health community, and even a judge. All were frustrated, but collaborating to help the chemically dependent.\u201CIt\u2019s not something where you can sort of scare straight those people. They have a chemical dependency,\u201D said Dept. Chief Corey MacDonald of the Portsmouth Police Department. \u201CSo what we're looking to do is set up a series of days where people could come in, and possibly get some education, some treatment ... get put in the right direction. Also to really reach out to family members -- there are a lot of family members who might be able to take this opportunity to come and find out what resources are out there.\u201DPolice could set up a spot where area agencies could be in one place at the same time, where drugs could even be turned in.\u201CThey're gonna be anonymous. They're gonna come in. Law enforcement isn't going to know who they are or ask who they are, and they're gonna get a chance hopefully to get help or hopefully get steered in that right first direction,\u201D said MacDonald.The first of these sessions could be as early as May.Police said they'll still go after drug dealers, but they want opiate addicts to know there's hope."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.wmur.com/article/local-authorities-may-set-up-sessions-to-help-heroin-addicts/5188993>