Santa Cruz officials have been battling with a rise of heroin use in the forest areas of the city. It is alleged that Salvadorian gangs are working under the cover of the forest trees selling the drug to fund their wars against other gangs and other criminal activity. The sellers are extremely mobile and constantly on the move. It has gotten so bad that the city has asked the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to step and help with the fight.
There are hundreds of gullies and covered hillsides close to highways 1 and 9. Police say that most of the activity takes place in the Pogonip Trails, which are miles long. Police have dubbed the area Heroin Hill, but have been totally unable to stop the spreading sale of heroin. The city fears a spread of violence and even cities such as San Jose and Santa Clara have expressed concerns about a potential spillover effect. To read a detailed article on this situation please click here.
Some may think it odd that heroin is still widely used. It seemed that by the 1990's expensive heroin had been replaced by cheap methamphetamines, or meth. To a large extent this is true. Meth is cheap to produce and cheap to sell.
But ironically, the use of heroin remains visible in Santa Cruz and even San Jose. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse or the NIDA, the levels of heroin use are greater now than the early 90's. According to the same report it is heroin that is most correlated to negative social consequences, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, fetal effects, crime, violence, disruptions in family life and workplace environment.
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