Heroin abuse leveling off in city, study finds

Boston's heroin epidemic appears to have plateaued after several years of increased deaths and hospitalizations as the cheap, plentiful opiate became the drug of choice on city streets, according to a study being released today.

Researchers from the Boston Public Health Commission found that in 2006, heroin resulted in 11 percent fewer admissions to treatment centers than the year before, and fewer callers to help lines cited the drug as the source of their addiction. The study also concluded that abuse of the powerful pain pill OxyContin appears to have leveled off.

"I'm really encouraged by some of the indicators that show heroin abuse is not getting worse for the first time in several years," Mayor Thomas M. Menino said. "But we have to stay focused on the issue. Substance abuse is still a serious problem in Boston."

Even with the drop in users seeking treatment for heroin addiction , the drug maintains a powerful hold in Boston: It still results in more treatment admissions than any other substance, eclipsing even alcohol. Twice as many Bostonians die from alcohol and drug abuse as from murder.

Dealers peddle small plastic baggies of heroin for as little as $3, said Michael Botticelli, who presides over substance abuse services at the state Department of Public Health. And that can prove especially attractive to users whose substance abuse problems began with expensive prescription drugs. " Many young kids are switching to heroin because it's cheaper," Botticelli said.

That's why many prevention and treatment efforts target users in their teens and 20s. Statewide, from 2000 to 2006, addicts in their 20s constituted a growing share of all patients seeking addiction treatment, Botticelli said.

In the past two years, Boston significantly expanded its campaign to curtail use of heroin, alcohol, and other drugs, said John Auerbach , executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission . The city, for example, gave grants to 17 neighborhood coalitions that educate parents about the perils of substance abuse, provide support groups, and guide users to treatment.

Plus, state spending on substance abuse services has burgeoned after severe cuts earlier in the decade. After dipping to $33.2 million in the 2004 budget year, the state expenditure to treat users and prevent abuse rose to $61.6 million in the current budget, said Connie Peters , a vice president at Mental Health and Substance Abuse Corporations of Massachusetts , a trade association.

Detoxification services have been restored, and services tailored to younger users have expanded. Substance abuse specialists, Peters said, increasingly recognize that approaches used with older addicts don't work with teens or young adults.

"The younger a person is when they start to drink and abuse drugs -- and God knows they're very young these days in some neighborhoods -- the more likely they are to become a lifelong alcoholic or drug abuser," Peters said. "That's why it's so important to help them at that age."

Stephen Smith can be reached at stsmith@globe.com.