By Michael Crooks ‘14

On February 2, Oscar-winning actor Phillip Seymour Hoffman was found dead in his Manhattan apartment with a needle in his left arm. The 46-year-old died of a heroin overdose. Seven months earlier, “Glee” actor Cory Monteith died due to a combined drug intoxication of heroin and alcohol. Cases such as these have led many people to associate heroin abuse with celebrities. However, the media is increasingly reporting that heroin is also a problem among young people in local areas.

In Virginia, 16-year-old McLean High School student Emylee Lonczak died on August 21 after taking heroin for the first time in a car with a couple of friends. Her friends carried her body to one of their homes and eventually dragged it outside near some shrubs where police found it two days later. A few months later, 20-year-old Kyle Alifom pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence, admitting that he tried to hide Lonczak’s body.

Over the past couple of months, news has come out suggesting teenagers are using heroin in Montgomery County, specifically in Damascus. Route 27, an interstate that runs through Damascus, has been deemed by many as a “heroin highway.” Robert Hellmuth, director of the MCPS Department of School Safety and Security, notes that heroin in the county has increased, but is confident that it is not an issue in schools.

“I know the police department has spoken of an increase of heroin use in the county and specifically mentioned in the Damascus area. We have not seen any heroin or indications of heroin use in any of our schools,” said Hellmuth. “Our security staff is vigilant of any kind of drug possession or use and the school district has programs in place to help drug users.”

Unfortunately, MCPS no longer has the Safe and Drug Free Schools Program, which, according to Doug Steel, supervisor of the Department of School Safety and Security, was “probably the best source of information within the school system to talk about drug abuse issues [with students and staff].”

Though heroin use and possession at schools may not be an issue, there are reports that it is a problem among high school students. In a News4 story by Darcy Spencer about heroin use in Montgomery County, 22-year-old Damascus graduate Mary Evans said that in her high school experience, heroin “really penetrated every clique from the cheerleaders to the football players and then the goth kids.” Evans added that she felt that heroin use in Montgomery County was at “epic levels.” However, one Damascus student thinks that things have changed for the better since Evans graduated.

“A whole new class has gone through and graduated and things are not like they used to be … As a senior at Damascus High School I can say it’s not perfect but students do not bring drugs to school very often and they are not nearly as popular,” said Nicholas Westervelt in a comment on Spencer’s article.

Others agree fully with Evans’ evaluation of the situation, like Lindsey Mathis, who commented on the article online at the News4 website. “I know so many people in [Montgomery County, Carroll County and Howard County] that use heroin and the terribly sad thing is, kids are going to do whatever it is they want to do whether they are educated about the risk and consequences or not.”