"Task force calls for expanded services to save heroin addicts" (WMAR) July 13, 2015
Monday Jul 13th, 2015
Long before the recent resurgence of heroin on the streets of Baltimore, David Zhitnitsky fell victim to the drug, and he found himself homeless, sleeping on a mattress, when a total stranger helped save his life. "The woman comes up to me with her son and tells me, 'You know, I see you're struggling. I see you have some issues. Maybe I can help you.' I said, 'Maam, believe me, you don't want to get into the problems that I have. It's more than you can handle.'" A crackdown on prescription pain killers in recent years turned heroin into a cheap alternative and last year Baltimore had almost 200 fatal overdoses or about a third of the total statewide. "Here in Baltimore where 19,000 people use heroin, it's not random people who have addictions. It is, as our mayor said, our families, our friends and our neighbors," said City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen.