Recovering addicts: Heroin is easy to score and afford

Heroin has developed a frightening grip on Long Island’s youth in a way not seen for decades. In part four of News 12 Long Island’s Heroin: Addicted on Long Island series, a recovering addict explains how heroin is easily accessible and affordable.

According to the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependency (LICADD), on average heroin overdoses kill one Long Islander each day. Tom Goris, who used heroin and other drugs for 15 years, believes the reason for the addiction is because heroin is not only an easy drug to find, but it’s also inexpensive. Goris says heroin is now cheaper than a six-pack of beer or a pack of cigarettes.

Recovering addicts say people don’t have to go to crime-ridden neighborhoods anymore to get heroin. They say the drug is just a mouse click away on the Internet. “All I needed to do was pull up an Internet site, search and go,” says Goris. He adds that the listings to purchase drugs are often filled with code words.

Police say that because of First Amendment rights, it is hard to remove ads or prosecute both sellers and buyers. However, Nassau Chief of Detectives Kevin Smith says that his investigators have caught on to the Internet drug ads and are trying to crack down.