Troopers say heroin use is on the rise in Alaska, and it’s reached epidemic proportions is some parts of the state.
On Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers announced the arrests of two men in connection with a California-to-Alaska drug ring. The arrests were the culmination of work between different agencies, including AST and the Anchorage Police Department. Troopers seized 4 ounces of heroin, with a street value of more than $30,000.
“That’s a very large amount for one person to have,” said Lt. Rex Leath with the AST Statewide Drug Enforcement Unit. “Sometimes, we find people that use heroin will have 1/10 of a gram on them. This situation, well over a hundred grams were found on this person.”
In the past three years, troopers say heroin-related arrests have been on the rise, going from 146 in 2012 to 209 in 2014 — and those numbers are still climbing.
“In the first six months of this year, compared to last year, the arrests just for the Mat-Su Valley Statewide Drug Enforcement Unit are up over 50 percent,” said Leath.
Leath says the Valley has been hit particularly hard by increasing heroin problems.
“It’s an epidemic right now, as far as the amount of heroin that’s in that community,” he said.
Troopers say evidence of the state’s heroin use can also be found in parks, driveways and along the roadways, as users are disposing of needles in an unsafe way.
“We have heard from around the state, as recently as last week, communities that used to never see disposed needles in their area are starting to find a lot of those needles,” said Leath.
The Alaskan AIDS Assistance Association (Four A’s) offers a free and anonymous needle exchange program in Anchorage.
“We ask people to bring their used syringes, gets them off the street and safely disposed of,” said Jamez Terry. ”Then, we offer sterile syringes.”
Since starting their program in 2007, Four A’s averaged about 50 new users per month. Last month, the agency saw more than 100 new clients.
“Typically, we’ve been exchanging about 26,000 syringes a month, which is a pretty high number to begin with. Last month, we exchanged over 40,000,” said Terry.
Troopers are hopeful the trends will change.
“We feel like we are on the pulse of what’s happening,” said Leath.
AST says cracking down on heroin use is its primary focus right now in the SDEU.
Contact Jacquie Slater at jslater@ktva.com and @JacquieSlater