From Chief Murphy
The purpose of the NRPD Community Drug Awareness Resources Site is to provide residents with a place where they can locate a multitude of services as well as find information that is designed to spread awareness about the dangers of drug abuse; also to provide local, regional and web based resources that can assist residents in areas of drug awareness and treatment and prevention strategies; and to act as a portal for open lines of communication between the police department and the community in an effort to reduce the negative impact of illicit drug abuse.
“The North Reading Police Department is committed to reducing the negative impacts of illicit drug use in the community. I believe that this issue is something that must be addressed on a community wide basis. The North Reading Police Department will better achieve this goal by working with the community, through its residents, businesses and other government agencies. The NRPD Community Drug Awareness Resource Site is just one of the tools that we will employ towards improving the quality of life issue of substance abuse in our community. I hope that residents will visit this site often to stay in tuned with our efforts and to contribute towards this positive effort.”
Michael P. Murphy
Chief of Police
Current Drug Trends
This Section of our Drug Awareness Site is designed to keep residents up to date with current information on local, regional and national drug trends. Many of the new and dangerous drugs that area available to kids are new and therefore there is very little known about them in the community. NRPD will continue to monitor local, regional and national drug trends and then post them on this site. Please check into this site frequently and look for additions to this site posted on our Face Book page.
If you suspect a loved one is abusing opiates and or heroin please seek assistance immediately. The sooner one seeks help the better. The North Reading Police Department’s website and the North Reading C.I.T Community Impact Team’s website offers links to assist you in getting treatment for drug addicted people.
If you have questions or concerns please contact;
Drug Free Communities Grant Director Amy Luckiewicz at 978-357-5054 or email at aluckiewicz@nrpd.org
Latest Trends of 2016
Since the beginning of 2016, the North Reading Police Department has seen a change in the drug trend in town. We still have a heroin epidemic in the Commonwealth but we have seen a shift in North Reading towards Oxycodone 30 milligram prescriptions pills, commonly called Perc 30s or just Percs, and the very dangerous drug Fentanyl. Parents should understand that Oxycodone 30 milligram prescriptions pills are still an opiate and once a person becomes tolerant of this “high”, the next shift unfortunately is to the more potent drug Heroin.
Parents and loved ones are urged to seek treatment for someone abusing Oxycodone pills as soon as possible to prevent the introduction to heroin and or Fentanyl. These treatment resources are available on the CIT website as well as NRPD.ORG
The most common ways a person can abuse Oxycodone/Percocet is:
- Orally
- Snorting- crushing the pill and snorting its powdered form
- Smoking- smoking the pill from a piece of tinfoil by burning the pill underneath the tinfoil
The other alarming trend we are seeing more of is the presence of Fentanyl in North Reading. Several presumptive drug tests of powder that we have seized in 2016 is showing a positive reading for Fentanyl. Unfortunately people are assuming they are purchasing heroin but are in fact buying Fentanyl or heroin laced with Fentanyl. Fentanyl is over 100 times more potent than heroin and is linked to several Massachusetts deadly overdoses. People should be aware that Fentanyl is being sold to look like heroin and therefore an addict is unaware that they are abusing this deadly drug.
Signs of Opiate Use — Specifically Heroin and suboxone
The following pictures show actual drug paraphernalia seized by Police. Some of the pictures may help parents identify possible signs of drug use. Signs to look for include plastic sandwich baggie ties, brown or white powder residue, burnt or discolored spoons, plastic bottle caps, and hypodermic needles.