As heroin use has grown across the country in recent years, the Tuscaloosa and University of Alabama communities have been no exception.

Wayne Robertson, commander of the West Alabama Narcotics Task Force, said narcotics, such as heroin, are playing an increasingly significant role in student life.

“We are seeing a big rise in heroin use among students,” Robertson said. “[It] is probably one of the most powerful drugs there is. We’ve seen more college kids on it in this area than any other group. The problem that we’re having is so many overdoses.”

(See also “Addicted to A’s: competition and stress push students to prescription drugs“)

The purity of heroin is characterized by how much it is mixed or “cut” with other, generally non-lethal, substances, such as sugar or starch. Typically, users buy heroin with a purity level of 20 to 30 percent, Robertson said. However, the average purity rate of heroin in Tuscaloosa is a dangerously high 50 percent, and neighboring Jefferson County officials have confiscated some with purity levels as high as 90 percent.

“They’re selling it to the kids, and the kids just don’t know what they’re getting,” Robertson said. “If you’re an addict, you want that drug so badly. You’re willing to take the risk.”

Heroin overdoses rose in Jefferson, Shelby and Tuscaloosa counties from 15 in 2008 to 83 in 2012, according to a press release from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama.

(See also “Is A-Rod’s suspension enough?“)

The heroin landscape has changed since the 1960s and ’70s, when it was generally seen in lower-income areas of big cities, Roberts said. Starting in 2012, the drug became more prevalent in the community, mostly among the middle to upper class.

The task force seized heroin totaling a street value of $16,000 in 2012 and $19,000 in 2013. Robertson said local college students used OxyContin and oxycodone until a few years ago, when heroin became the more popular drug.

Oxycodone, an active ingredient in the prescription drug OxyContin, is an opiate that has an effect similar to that of heroin, Robertson said. Heroin is more accessible because it does not require a prescription or prescription forgery.

The number of heroin users in the U.S. has increased by almost 80 percent from 373,000 in 2007 to 669,000 in 2012, according to the federal government’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

“It’s easier to get heroin; it’s cheaper, and it’s a better high,” Robertson said. “I think this is what’s caused the rise in the use of it. It’s a very powerful, very addictive drug.”

Robertson said in addition to college-age students, the task force is now seeing heroin users as young as 16. The drug is mostly being distributed out of Jefferson County.

Despite this recent uptick in heroin distribution, though, marijuana is still the most common narcotic in the area, Robertson said. He said he has also seen why it has a reputation as a gateway drug to more lethal substances.

“I know people consider marijuana a drug that is not dangerous, and some people say it ought to be just like alcohol,” Robertson said. “But at every [heroin] overdose I’ve been to, and I’ve been to quite a few, we found evidence of marijuana usage.”

According to the University’s Annual Campus Security and Fire Report, 72 arrests were made on campus in 2011 for drug violations, which jumped to 103 in 2012. The task force arrested 179 students off campus in 2013. Robertson said campus police arrests mostly involve misdemeanor charges, while the task force handles all felony drug arrests.

“We deal with more students off campus than we do on campus,” Robertson said. “We deal with a lot of students from The University of Alabama, but they’re living outside the campus area.”

Thursday marks the one-year anniversary of the death of 20-year-old Baker Mims, a UA student who died from a heroin overdose at The Woodlands student apartment complex.

Mims’ mother, Beverly Mims, said her son’s small physical size could not handle the potency of local heroin.

“If he had weighed more, he could’ve lived,” she said.

College students often take risks and experiment with drugs, but those who die from heroin overdoses never get a chance to learn from their mistakes, she said.

“I want heroin dealers off the streets,” she said. “I want them to think of all the lives they are ruining just because of greed.”

Mims said she hopes her son’s story can still have an impact.

“He was humble, [and] he had so many gifts,” she said. “So it’s debasing to us because he’s our child. Debasing I think, to the world. But I can tell you that God’s definitely still using him to make an impact.”

One UA graduate and former heroin addict, who wishes to remain anonymous, said the drug made him feel like a different person.

“I was doing stuff like stealing from my parents and breaking into cars,” he said. “That was kind of a sign. The fact that I would do just about anything to get it was a reality check after a while.”

After experimenting with LSD, ecstasy and cocaine, he said he tried heroin for the first time and instantly became addicted. For months, he wore long-sleeved shirts to hide the track marks on his arms from injecting the drug. After surviving an overdose, he decided to quit.

“It was hell coming off of [it],” he said. “I was feeling nauseated and having mental breakdowns because I needed the drug so bad. I would sleep 10 to 12 hours a day.”

He said he felt like he was in control of his life while using heroin but that he was lying to himself.

“There’s only a few options that can happen when you’re using it frequently: death, rehab or jail,” he said. “That’s pretty much all it can lead to.”

The Student Health Center offers treatment for students with substance abuse issues through “Drugs, Alcohol and You” programs that provide individual and group therapy, as well as group classes.

“We know that substance abuse is a concern nationally, and we are confident that we have a reasonable array of options within the Student Health Center and other partners on campus, such as the Counseling Center and Psychology Clinic, to help address these concerns,” Delynne Wilcox, assistant director of health planning and prevention, said.

(See also “Healthy habits help minimize dead week, finals stress“