Authorities say heroin use in New Hampshire is growing at an alarming rate. Authorities say 61 people died of heroin overdoses in New Hampshire last year.
The issue has been of particular concern recently in Portsmouth, which saw three individuals overdose on heroin in the same week.
Seacoast Online reports 37 year old Simone Sclafani died Wednesday after being rushed to the hospital. Police have not commented on the conditions of the other two overdose victims.
Captain Mike Swartz of Portmouth police says they’re running tests on heroin samples out of concern that there may be a tainted or unusually potent form of the drug moving around the city, but he says it will take time to determine exactly what happened.
Police are also concerned that the rise in drug use is also spurring crimes by addicts. Officials in Manchester say they’ve seen a 24 percent rise in crime between 2012 and 2013 because of heroin and other drug-related issues.
Mayor Ted Gatsas and Police Chief David Mara have proposed adding five new officers to the force to deal with the issue.
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