IN A ROOM two stories above the North Park Blocks, Jeremy’s ears are full of carefully placed needles. His body seems a bit tense as he recounts the last time he used heroin, 49 days ago. “I just realized that [getting high] didn’t feel as good as the experiences I’ve had being clean and sober,” he says. “Synthetic happiness is just not as good as spiritual happiness.”
Around Jeremy, a half-dozen other addicts recline in deeply cushioned chairs, the air filled with tinkling Asian music. In all of their ears are five thin pins. All of them are using acupuncture in an attempt to keep clean.
For 20 years, acupuncture has been an integral part of Portland’s approach to treating drug and alcohol addiction. But recently, the need for heroin treatment has jumped, while funding has been slashed.
In June and July alone, 117 people overdosed on heroin in downtown Portland—double the number of overdoses for the same time period last year, says Central Precinct Commander Mike Reese. Behind the alarming increase is a change in the kind of heroin available in Portland. The cops’ drug and vice unit says Portland’s heroin is the purest bought and sold on any city’s streets in the US, funneled to Oregon by Mexican drug cartels. The purer the heroin, the stronger its effects and the stronger its grip on addicts.
According to a Multnomah County study, one proven way to keep addicts in therapy and get them through the harrowing first few days of withdrawal without relapsing is using acupuncture in therapy. But right now, the need for treatment in Portland is overwhelming programs.
For Central City Concern Executive Director Ed Blackburn, the increase in demand for treatment is obvious. Ten years ago, when he worked at Hooper Detoxification Center on NE MLK—the first place addicts land when trying to get clean—the clinic occasionally had to turn away 10 people a day. Now, they often turn away up to 50 people. There are 54 beds at Hooper and Blackburn estimates funding only covers 38. As for the rest, “We fill ’em, we just lose money sometimes,” he says. “We have the same capacity we had in 1984.”
In the room where Jeremy receives acupuncture five times a week as part of a months-long rehab program run by Central City Concern, three acupuncturists treat 50 to 60 recovering addicts a day. The staff was twice that size until 2004, when the Oregon Health Plan made major budget cuts. And “all bets are off” as to the program’s future funding, says Blackburn, citing the current economic picture.
Yet acupuncture is a proven treatment method. The 1999 Multnomah County study found that addicts receiving acupuncture in therapy were 20 percent more likely to get through the first few days of withdrawal, and twice as likely to continue long-term rehab.
“It’s subtle. It takes the edge off,” says Jeremy, with a thin needle stuck right between his eyes. “It makes me feel more at peace in my own skin, and I’ve had tremendous problems with that.”
Other options for quitting heroin involve taking methadone, a chemical anesthetic. “If someone’s doing methadone daily, it’s different than what we’re doing. We’re trying to get them off all drugs,” says Chuck Sve, one of Jeremy’s acupuncturists. “They come in and they’re feeling nauseous, they’re irritable, they’re not well. We put the needles in and they’re chill. It calms them down without any use of force or anything.” Once patients are calm and their bodies no longer pained and twitching, they’re much more able to participate in counseling sessions.
Acupuncturist David Eisen, who directs addiction treatment center Quest Center for Integrative Health, points out that the acupuncture helps with long-term withdrawal symptoms that lead to relapse, like depression and insomnia. “When I can’t sleep, there’s certain sleep points that really help,” says one of his clients, Stephen, referring to acupuncture pressure points. “It still takes me three hours to fall asleep, but I don’t need to run out and get shots of whiskey to help.”
This week, Stephen celebrated his ninth month of sobriety. “It was definitely either this or jumping off a bridge,” he says.
I am a junkie, 14 months clean. I have done a lot of Portland heroin, and I can safely say that 90% of it pretty weak compared to the rest of the west coast, east coast, vancouver, BC etc. Ask any junkie who has moved here and they will tell you the same. If cops think the heroin here is stronger and that overdoses are more common because of that “fact”, then Portland drug unit has some catching up to do. Heroin here typically runs $30-40 a gram whereas decent stuff typically sells for $80 plus in my experience. The price to weight ratio alone will tell you that stuff is NOT that pure. Keeping in mind however, that I haven’t done heroin in 14 months, so I am not completely up to date.
i am a junkie, 8 days clean. and I have done a lot of Portland heroin, as well as heroin all up and down the west coast, and I can safely say that the skag in portland is the best i’ve ever come across. i don’t know where the previous poster copped his dope, but i had 3 connections from various parts of portland (one from vancouver, wa), all with very high quality shit. all light brown powder heroin, supposedly imported from colombia, and according to 2 separate groups of portland fire department personnel during different incidents, running usually from 75-90% purity. it also seemed that the dealers were part of extremely well organized and large scale operations, each with nationwide connections. in my 3 years of dope use in portland, i’ve never seen a gram go for as cheaply as $30-40, in fact the best deal i got was basically $100 for 8 balloons which were about .10-.15 grams each. it’s not a drug the ultimate consumer buys by weight like pot or coke, probably because it’s so expensive and it takes so little to get high. just wanted to get that out there.
uhh clearly misinformed. east coast heroin (specifically NJ) is the most pure according to the DEA and has been so for several years. the main port of entry for the entire country is the port of newark and thus reaches the hands of fiends with much less cut than is added through transportation. the type of heroin must also be distinguished (tar vs. #4 powder) because #4, typically not available on the west coast but recently showing up, is usually of a much higher purity. drug and vice unit have a compelling interest to make a claim – more fear = more money. i would do a bit of outside research beforehand. similarly – what would a local drug and vice unit have as a comparison? high overdose levels more likely point to a cut with a drug such as fentanyl (synthetic drug more cheaply produced than heroin) than a high level of purity. in addition, the only reason that NJ receives such high purity heroin is because of the fact that it is the entry port for most cartels. i highly doubt that portland is the main port of entry for the west coast – california has much more traffic in its ports and is easier to smuggle drugs into. looking at pure numbers, california has much higher amounts of the drug seized than oregon, close to 20x more. please don’t take the word of people who have a personal interest in the matter at hand. do a bit of research and save yourself some embarassment.
I was addicted to drugs, but with anguish and perseverance we will succeed. but i fear that I will always back to the old mistakes. the idea is to have friends, to communicate, get out, to not stay alone, these are some tips given to me from Narconon Vista Bay.
I was addicted to drugs, but with anguish and perseverance we will succeed. but i fear that I will always back to the old mistakes. the idea is to have friends, to communicate, get out, to not stay alone, these are some tips given to me from Narconon Vista Bay.