Heroin use on the rise

Highly addictive heroin has made a comeback on the island, experts said yesterday.

Heroin has leapfrogged crack cocaine and cocaine in the league table of drugs of choice.

Emergency Room chief Dr Edward Schultz confirmed alcohol remains the most widely abused drug on the island, followed by cannabis.

But he added: “After that, my sense is it might be heroin now rather than cocaine — back in the 1990s, it used to be cocaine. I think it might be heroin now. There are still people who use crack cocaine, but it’s not as popular, although that’s just my impression.”

He was backed by Dr Ernest Peets Jr, programme coordinator at drug addiction charity Focus.

He said: “Heroin is a very, very significant issue here.”

Both Dr Schultz and Dr Peets Jr said that heroin was a widely used drug up to the 1990s, but was injected, which led to HIV/AIDS and other diseases like hepatitis, leading to a drop in use.

But now the method of heroin use has changed to inhaling it — known as “chasing the dragon” – and its use appears to be on the rise.

Dr Peets Jr said: “Injecting is falling out of favour – there are still a few intravenous drug users out there and if they are using that, the disease of addiction has progressed to full maturity. Most of them inhale.”

He added: “For most of the people we see in our office, we see a lot relating to heroin — more than cocaine.

Costs the same

“I would imagine, based on supply and demand, the drugs probably cost about the same.

“The popularity of heroin is simply because of the physical side – it’s a very powerfully addictive drug.”

Dr Peets Jr explained: “The high that it gives the individual use is what grabs them. But what happens next is the physical dependency.

“After that, it’s less about the high ‚ they are taking drugs to avoid withdrawal and being sick. The symptoms for heroin withdrawal can be very severe.

“When people do not have access to the drug, they experience very serious physical withdrawal symptoms — it’s these that require immediate medical attention.”

The Bermuda Police Service was yesterday approached for comment, but had not responded by press time.