Heroin use has spread far beyond from under the bridges of urban cities and into the quiet solitude of predominately white, middle-class bedroom towns. What's causing the rise in use in small town America? Maybe the 'country folk' are restless and looking for some cheap thrills? And their escape from boredom involved drugs. The users defy stereotypes: former high school sports stars, honor students, cheerleaders and the good kids with good parents.

Across the country and the Commonwealth, there are stories waiting to be told. The one thread all of them share is the power of their addiction, whether pills, cocaine or heroin, has often overwhelmed their best intentions. Local police are arresting an ever-increasing number of people who were stealing from their own families, to support their habit. Rochester, MA is a beautiful, rural, agricultural town filled with equine stables and John Deer tractors. Their Police Chief Paul Magee agrees that small towns are not immune to this national scourge, the drug addiction epidemic.

Across the state, police and first responders are learning how to use Narcan for heroin and drug overdoses. Some departments are advising families to learn how to use  Narcan and how to administer CPR before the panic of an overdose complicates their reaction. With heroin as low as three dollars a bag, in different purities, some addicts are using the drug four times a day, everyday. So much for the American dream of a family, big house in the country, nice car, a dog, successful and happy. All that is going into a syringe and flowing down the mainstream of both large and small town America.

 

 

 

 

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