The Current New York City Heroin Scene

Abstract

This article discusses the use and distribution of heroin in New York City, both historically and especially currently. Data on the current situation derive in large measure from the Heroin Project, a recently completed five-year ethnographic study of heroin in New York City funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Findings about the new, young heroin user, particularly in regard to demographic characteristics, patterns of use, modes of ingestion, and involvement in crime, and some of the ways in which the new user is similar and different from the “old time” heroin user are presented. In addition changes in the New York City heroin markets over the years are discussed. We note the effectiveness of methadone maintenance treatment in terms of its impact on heroin-related crime, make suggestions as to how methadone treatment could be expanded, and review current heroin policy and the War on Drugs, with a focus on the New York State Rockefeller drug laws and the need for policy reform in this area.