Teen Rushed to Hospital After Heroin Overdose

A teen who police say was suffering from a heroin overdose was rushed to the hospital from downtown this week after trying to buy an opiate blocker from CVS.

According to police reports, at just after 10:30 p.m. Tuesday night, a CVS employee called police and reported that a teen had just said his friend was overdosing on heroin.

The two teens were then seen walking toward Dunkin Donuts. Officers David Larriere and Joseph Davies and Sgt. Steven Gerroir responded and checked the area, eventually finding them on Locke Street.

The teen reportedly suffering an overdose was taken to Lawrence General Hospital, and his father was notified.

Police said the teens -- who have not been named or charged with any crime at this point -- were trying to buy a medication that blocks opiates in the blood and can prevent an overdose.

Heroin addiction has increased in the area in recent years, especially in suburban communities.

Last year, state police seized a pound of heroin from a minivan on I-495 driven by a Lawrence resident. In August of this year, there were two separate heroin arrests in Andover on the same day.

In September, a man was charged with possession after police said he passed out in his car high on heroin. And just a few days before that, police charged another man with heroin possession while serving a warrant at a local home.

And couple weeks later, a man was charged with possession of heroin in local hotel room.

Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett has said fatal heroin overdoses are on the rise in the region. In 2010, he said, there were 23 fatal overdoses county-wide. In 2012, that number spiked to 56, and this year there have been 60 fatal heroin overdoses so far.