9 Woburn residents die in 1 month due to heroin overdoses

STONEHAM, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) -- The Southern Middlesex Regional Task Force confiscated 24 bags of heroin and hundreds in cash from a heroin dealer Tuesday in Stoneham and they say it's part of a much larger problem on the North Shore and throughout the entire Commonwealth.

Heroin overdoses are once again on the rise. In just a month this fall, the City of Woburn lost nine residents to heroin overdoses and police and substance abuse experts say the drug is rearing its ugly head again. Our Heather Hegedus sat down with the parents of one of those victims who passed away, just last month. They say their son was at the top of his class, a great athlete and loved by many. After graduation from Woburn High School, he continued on to Syracuse and became an engineer.

But 26-year-old Justin Lucchese was also a heroin addict. His parents say they didn't know.

"I was blind," his mom, Marie said.

It started when the soccer and baseball star needed surgery for a knee injury he developed in his junior year. His dad, Carmen, said he was on his back for 10 weeks and unable to get out of bed.

"He was 19 when he had this operation, 19-year-old's can't go on oxy for 6 or 7 months," Marie said.

His spiral began when he was hit by a car, his parents explained. And Carmen and Marie say that often, as was the case with Justin, heroin addicts transition from painkillers to heroin because it's cheaper.

"I opened his closet to hang something up and his Syracuse bag fell out. And I kicked it back in and closed the door and went back to the kitchen but a little voice kept saying, go and open that bag, so I went back in and opened the bags and that's when we found the needles. That's when I was devastated."

Vinny Pirro and Michael Higgins the current and former probation officers for Woburn District Court started the Heroin Education Awareness Task Force or HEAT when they began noticing a huge increase in the number of youth showing up for court over heroin charges. They say the heroin epidemic hit the Bay State around 2005 and never let up. However, it appears to be getting worse again.

In fact, according to the D.E.A., nearby Lawrence and the Merrimack Valley are one of the top three distribution centers in the country for heroin use. As for Justin, one month ago, his brother found him in his bedroom dead from either an overdose or bad batch of heroin.

"At least the last time I saw my son, it was the day before he passed," Carmen said. "He gave me a big hug and a kiss. And that's the last time I saw him."

Now the family's making it their mission to get the word out to other families that this is happening in Woburn, on the Northshore, in Massachusetts and in your community.

Marie says she will "have a hollowness in my heart for the rest of my life."

She went on to say, "I go to my son's grave everyday. And I make him a promise that we are going to help people understand what's going on."

For more information on the Heroin Education Awareness Task Force call 781-935-4000 X226. The number for the state's Bureau of Substance Abuse is 800-327-5050. And to learn more about family support resources, visit learn2cope.org.

Cox Media Group