Each injection usually lasts four or five hours. Since most addicts cannot hold down a steady job, they turn to breaking and entering, larceny and shoplifting, said Patenaude. David Woods, for example, has been convicted for 70 offenses, mostly possessing heroin and hypodermic needles, larceny, and receiving stolen property. He has spent 15 years behind bars, at 17 prisons and jails. His latest sentence is 18 months at the Hampshire County House of Correction followed by three years' probation, for breaking and entering and distribution of heroin in Northampton.
Many users steal items like baby formula, which has dual worth.
It can be used to mix with heroin to make it less pure and more profitable to resell. They step up and get more violent as they become more desperate. More than 70,000 arrests each year in Massachusetts result from operating under the influence of narcotics or alcohol as well as other drug charges, according to the Bureau of Substance Abuse Services. In addition, three out of four adults on probation and half of youth probationers reported alcohol or other drug problems in 1994. Hard time making arrests Despite the increased availability of heroin, police say they are having a harder time making drug arrests.