Tag: heroin
Junkies are filling Bronx parks with over 5,000 used needles a week
Junkies have been dumping some 5,000 used needles a week in parks across the Bronx — prompting desperate city officials to install dozens of syringe-disposal kiosks in hopes of cleaning up the dangerous mess.
There has been a dramatic gain in the number of syringes found in parks in the Bronx in recent years because of the ongoing opioid epidemic, city Health Department officials say.
The 60 kiosks, which will be locked trash boxes placed in the hardest-hit Bronx parks, are part of a $60 million HealingNYC program to combat the drug plague, announced Monday.
The plan will also include outreach from needle-exchange programs to users who shoot up in parks.
“Everyone deserves parks that are safe and clean,” said Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver. “Our goal is to protect parkgoers and to offer a helping hand to those struggling with addiction.”
He added that the program will be modeled after similar initiatives in Seattle and Vancouver, Canada.
Among the 16 impacted parks is Saint Mary’s in Mott Haven — the largest park in the South Bronx — as well as Tremont Park and Crotona Park.
City Health Department officials couldn’t say how many needles a typical addict runs through per day, since it varies by level of addiction, as well as the type and amount of drug injected.
Drug users are eager to dispose used needles quickly because they’re worried about getting caught by police, according to Mark Townsend of the Corner Project in Washington Heights.
The nonprofit group piloted the city’s first-ever syringe kiosk in May 2016, installing a daisy-shaped drop box at Haven Park Underpass in upper Manhattan.
The first city-run kiosks — which will be emptied by trained park workers or needle-exchange-program staffers — can hold from 250 to 2,000 syringes each, according to health officials.
The program will expand to other boroughs if it proves successful, but officials couldn’t immediately say when the first of the kiosks will be installed.
“Collaborating with NYC Parks is part of our comprehensive plan to address the opioid epidemic and help keep all New Yorkers safe, including people who use drugs,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett.
As part of the city’s wider efforts to combat opioid use and stem an increase in overdoses, Mayor Bill de Blasio recently approved the opening of four supervised injection facilities where drug users can shoot up under medical supervision.
Community hearings concerning the sites — two in Manhattan, one in the Bronx and one in Brooklyn — have been scheduled while the city awaits necessary approvals in coming months.
via: https://nypost.com/2018/05/21/junkies-are-filling-bronx-parks-with-over-5000-used-needles-a-week/
Principal fired for trying to smuggle heroin into prison
A once-respected Brooklyn principal has lost a bid to keep her job after admitting she tried to smuggle heroin and other drugs into an upstate prison, The Post has learned.
Sadie Silver, a rising star at PS 28 in Bedford-Stuyvesant, was busted in July 2014 — but continued to collect her city salary, which was $138,000 last year, until March this year.
Silver and a boyfriend were arrested on charges of drug possession, bringing contraband into a prison, and endangering the welfare of a child. Silver brought her daughter to Coxsackie Correctional Facility.
She and her boyfriend were caught with bags of heroin and suboxone, authorities said. They allegedly tried to sneak the drugs to Silver’s son, who was doing time on weapons charges.
Two years later, in July 2016, she pleaded guilty to introducing contraband into a prison, a misdemeanor, and was sentenced to three years’ probation.
Defended in a three-day hearing as a “brilliant educator” by the city principals’ union, Silver said she acted because her incarcerated son needed money to pay off a debt.
Silver begged for “a second chance,” but hearing officer Joel Douglas terminated her on Feb. 28.
via: http://nypost.com/2017/10/07/principal-fired-for-trying-to-smuggle-heroin-into-prison/
Florida moms overdose on heroin in SUV with infants in backseat
Two Florida mothers overdosed on heroin in a car on Thursday — with a pair of infants in the backseat.
Kristen Leigh O’Connor, 28, and 29-year-old June Schweinhart would tell cops in Boynton Beach that they met in a drug treatment program and bonded during their pregnancies.
O’Connor told investigators she picked up Schweinhart in the SUV and they bought $60 worth of heroin from her old drug dealer.
“For whatever reason, they decided yesterday to buy heroin and then snorted it while inside the car with their children,” the Boynton Beach Police Department wrote on Facebook on Friday.
When one of the women began to overdose, the other one called 911 for help. But then she started convulsing, according to cops.
“Oh my God, oh my God,” O’Connor said she heard Schweinhart say, according to the Palm Beach Post.
A passerby saw what was going on and took the phone and spoke with the dispatcher. The Florida Department of Children and Families took custody of the babies before turning them over to relatives. O’Connor and Schweinhart were charged with child neglect and taken to jail after being released from the hospital.
A judge ruled Friday that O’Connor can be with her child only when the baby’s grandmother is present, according to the Palm Beach Post.
The babies were one month and two months old, respectively, the newspaper reported.
“We hope this serves as a wake-up call for these moms, and that they seek further treatment for their addiction,” cops said.
Toddler passed out on sidewalk at midnight apparently overdosed, police say
PORTSMOUTH, Ohio (FOX 11/ AP) – Police who responded to a report of an Ohio toddler apparently passing out on a sidewalk from a suspected drug overdose in the middle of the night say she was treated at a hospital, and her parents are charged with child endangering.
Portsmouth police say a frantic person approached an officer Wednesday, shortly after midnight, seeking help for the 18-month-old girl, who was unconscious and having trouble breathing. Police say the girl’s father and another person drove her to a hospital before the officer arrived at the scene in the Ohio River city, about 90 miles east of Cincinnati.
olice found the girl’s 26-year-old mother unresponsive from a suspected heroin overdose inside their apartment nearby. She also received medical treatment.
Court records didn’t list attorneys for the parents.
According to local media, the parents– Brandy Estep and Jason Bolden– are charged with one count each of child endangering, a third degree felony that carried a maximum penalty of three years in prison.
via: http://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/us-world-news/247277429-story
Mother dies and father unresponsive from heroin overdose in 7 year old daughter’s hospital bathroom
CINCINNATI — Police arrived at an Ohio hospital Thursday to find a mother dead and a father unresponsive from a heroin overdose on the floor of their 7-month-old child’s hospital room bathroom.
The parents had traveled from Alabama to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center to seek treatment for their child.
The mother, identified Friday by the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office as Mary Landers, 31, of Trinity, Ala., was found dead from an apparent overdose at the hospital, police said.
Wesley Landers, also of Trinity, was found with a heroin syringe in his arm, needles strewn on the bathroom sink and a loaded and chambered handgun in his pants pocket, according to court documents.
He was transported to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center for treatment and was arrested on charges of possession of drugs, carrying a concealed weapon, having weapons while under disability and possessing drug abuse instruments.
During his arraignment in Hamilton County (Ohio) court Friday, Wesley Landers’ stance and posture were unchanged for most of it until his wife was mentioned.
At that moment, Landers dropped his head, closed his eyes and leaned against the lectern in front of him.
“If the heroin epidemic has exhibited itself in a more tragic form, I haven’t seen it,” said Judge Curt Kissinger during Landers’ arraignment.
Bond was set at $500,000 with the judge saying he weighed heavily that Landers is now a single father. The amount could be revisited in coming days, Kissinger said.
Officials at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center would not release further information on the incident and referred further questions to police.
Facebook and GoFundMe pages linked to the Landers show they were in Cincinnati seeking medical treatment for their 7-month-old daughter. Posts state the family was seeking assistance with covering out-of-pocket expenses for surgery the baby was undergoing Wednesday.
Trinity is about 33 miles west of Huntsville, Ala. The family traveled about 400 miles to Cincinnati for treatment.