Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

News 12 Special Report: 'Hooked on Heroin'
News12 (Hudson Valley, NY) ^ | 3/10/14 | Tara Rosenblum

Posted on 03/11/2014 9:06:24 AM PDT by Impala64ssa

The use of heroin has risen over the past few years in the Hudson Valley. In part one of News 12's special report "Hooked on Heroin," Tara Rosenblum speaks with parents who have lost children to the drug.

After Renee Hustins lost her son Benjamin to an overdose three months ago when he was 23, she met other parents who have lost children to heroin. The parents now all rely on each other for support.

The parents Rosenblum spoke to all say they never would have expected their children to become addicted to heroin. Some of them also shared their regret for not intervening sooner.

Jackie Vidal, whose son Rickie died of an overdose five years ago at age 18, says she only learned her son was doing drugs when he started stealing things around the house. Vidal says her son stole all of their TVs, along with jewelry that belonged to her and her four daughters.

"My own son did that, you never expect it," says Vidal. "This drug is evil."

Many of their children were initially addicted to prescription drugs, with one father saying his son's own psychiatrist was his dealer. They turned to heroin after prescription drugs became too expensive, as heroin typically costs $10 a deck.

Peter Lazier lost his son, Ryan, last October. Ryan Lazier became the sixth heroin-related casualty in two years in Port Jervis. Lazier says he sent his son to rehab 20 times, but he wasn't able to overcome his addiction. Lazier and the other parents say they're all speaking out to educate others.

"I want every parent in this county to know how widespread this is," says Kim Ricciardi, whose son James died at age 27 of a heroin overdose in 2012. "These are our children, they were brought up in good families, and they are using heroin."


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: New York
KEYWORDS: herion; johnthune; libertarian; mamieeisenhower; nancyreagan; portjervis; randpaul; themonkees; wod; wosd
Video at link. While Michael Bloomingidiot and other do-gooders are so preoccupied with keeping "our children" away from tobacco, some are turning to heroine, now more potent than ever. My old town of Port Jervis is a gritty old RR town that has fallen on hard times but is trying to make a comeback of sorts. Heck, someone even painted a humongous rainbow on the side of the building housing and art gallery across from the old train station that's been converted into small boutique shops, so it's all good./s It's got good and bad areas like anywhere else, meth and pot being the drugs of choice among that segment of the population. A couple of years ago the largest drug bust ever in Orange Cty, NY occurred in this town, just half a block from the police station.
1 posted on 03/11/2014 9:06:24 AM PDT by Impala64ssa
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Impala64ssa

bookmark


2 posted on 03/11/2014 9:07:25 AM PDT by silverleaf (Age takes a toll: Please have exact change)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Impala64ssa

So why are the feds allowing more heroin into the country? What deal did they make with the Mexican cartels or Afghan tribal lords?

Are they backing a new player in the import business? MS13? Latin Kings?

Are they providing guns and ammo like they did for Sinaloa Cartel?


3 posted on 03/11/2014 9:12:05 AM PDT by DBrow
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Impala64ssa

We’re on the same page, but this non sequitur made no sense:
While Michael Bloomingidiot and other do-gooders are so preoccupied with keeping “our children” away from tobacco, some are turning to heroine, now more potent than ever.

The heroin trade and leading syndicate in our area has been steadily and continuously increasing since the arrival of the post-Soviet and Kosovo refugees, which was almost 20 years ago now.

Talk to the NY National Guard vets coming back from New Windsor on how they were throwing money at the Afghan poppy farmers and rebuilding the road system used to transport the heroin westward to Europe,... US Taxpayers paid for the heroin trade’s security since we invaded Afghanistan.


4 posted on 03/11/2014 9:23:43 AM PDT by JerseyHighlander
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DBrow

“So why are the feds allowing more heroin into the country?”

Because heroin costs several times more than gold and the amount of money to be made is staggering.

Think of how much power bootleggers had during prohibition, multiply the profits by 10,000 and take it World-wide.

Every single government, every single bank and every single law enforcement outfit on the face of this earth has been infiltrated by drug cartels at the highest levels.


5 posted on 03/11/2014 9:24:17 AM PDT by varyouga
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Impala64ssa

I know I’m a “square”, but I never did understand the attraction of so-called recreational drugs, especially something as lethal as heroin. What makes young people so susceptible to them?


6 posted on 03/11/2014 9:24:40 AM PDT by rightwingintelligentsia (Democrats: The perfect party for the helpless and stupid, and those who would rule over them.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Impala64ssa

Hopefully the “legalize it!” crowd will show up soon, explaining why this would be better if there were no jail time.


7 posted on 03/11/2014 9:27:07 AM PDT by wideawake
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: rightwingintelligentsia
I know I’m a “square”, but I never did understand the attraction of so-called recreational drugs, especially something as lethal as heroin. What makes young people so susceptible to them?

Group-think, peer pressure, and availability. A teen or young adult goes to a party, has a few alcoholic drinks, maybe a joint or two, the next thing you know someone has some "good stuff" for them to try which makes them feel "amazing" and because of the affect on the pleasure center of the brain, they can become instantly hooked. All it takes is one or two times, and the brain's main goal is to get that feeling again, and it will make you sick (withdrawal) if you do not.

8 posted on 03/11/2014 9:31:38 AM PDT by corlorde (forWARD of the state)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: rightwingintelligentsia
A Cleveland news station is doing a series on the heroin epidemic. According to that, many people get hooked starting out on prescription pain killers.

It's beyond bizarre. Nothing is being done to kick invaders out of the country. There's an increase in reported hispanic drug involvement and crime. Nobody connects the dots and says people need jobs and people coming to the US to sell drugs need to be kicked out.

Yesterday, there was a report of a dealer of the killer heroin being charged wit murder and the person whose car the deal went down in being charged with accesory to murder.

I have trouble with that. It's more like providing the goods for suicide if they knew how lethal it is. Wouldn't it be easier to keep invaders out of the US and gain control of the often hispanic neighborhoods where this is coming from?

Were we really worse off when as kids we got to be bad just by smoking a few cigarettes? I lived long enough to give up the habit.

9 posted on 03/11/2014 9:40:14 AM PDT by grania
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: rightwingintelligentsia
I know I’m a “square”, but I never did understand the attraction of so-called recreational drugs, especially something as lethal as heroin. What makes young people so susceptible to them?

In a nutshell, the absence of spiritual protection against a very dark potion

10 posted on 03/11/2014 9:40:19 AM PDT by af_vet_1981 (The bus came by and I got on, That's when it all began)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: JerseyHighlander
The heroin trade and leading syndicate in our area has been steadily and continuously increasing since the arrival of the post-Soviet and Kosovo refugees, which was almost 20 years ago now.
Yes, which is why I pointed out as bad as tobacco use is, the anti-smoking crusaders are ignoring a much more serious problem, one that's actually funding terrorism, not to mention destroying so many lives.
11 posted on 03/11/2014 9:44:50 AM PDT by Impala64ssa (You call me an islamophobe like it's a bad thing.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: varyouga

“Every single government, every single bank and every single law enforcement outfit on the face of this earth has been infiltrated by drug cartels at the highest levels.”

A side benefit is that the same government that profits from the trade uses the problems that trade creates to steal more power from the people by passing all sorts of restrictive laws to keep the children safe.


12 posted on 03/11/2014 9:55:04 AM PDT by DBrow
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: DBrow
The amount of heroin coming into this country has exploded over the past 5 years. Obsma’s policies didn't bring jobs but they did bring an abundance of heroin. The only way a drug produced outside the country can get here is through our weak border security. This poison is flooding suburbia and killing middle class kids. I wonder what the secret name for this covert action is? Fast and Furious #2.
13 posted on 03/11/2014 10:06:15 AM PDT by peeps36 (I'm Not A Racist, I Hate Douchebags of All Colors)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: peeps36

I think that a new supply line has opened up, or someone in Afghanistan has brought one of the old sources back on line.

It would be nice to see the money flow here.


14 posted on 03/11/2014 10:08:53 AM PDT by DBrow
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: rightwingintelligentsia

Because the most addictive drugs physically feel better than anything you can imagine and make you instantly forget about any problems. It’s like going to heaven for $10 a day. Initially at least.

Then the user must keep taking more of them just to live.


15 posted on 03/11/2014 2:48:02 PM PDT by varyouga
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson