By Erin Souza

Heroin use is on the rise in Somerville because it is stronger, less expensive and easily available compared to other substances, said Cambridge and Somerville Program for Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Rehabilitation (CASPAR) Executive Director Gail Enman at the Somerville News contributors meeting on Sept. 20.

“[Heroin] is cheaper than a pack of cigarettes,” she said. “It’s cheaper than a six-pack of beer.”

Heroin addiction was the second most abused substance of the 2,800 people admitted to abuse treatment facilities in Cambridge and Somerville in 2004, the most recent year for which data is available, according to statistics produced by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

Enman said the public’s perception of a typical heroin user is inaccurate. She said the average client served by CASPAR is not homeless or unemployed, but is an “intelligent, accomplished” white man under the age of forty.

“This is not a homeless problem, it is a social problem,” she said of the heroin’s recent resurgence in the city. “This is not a phenomenon that is exclusive to homeless populations,” she said.

Enman described a clean needle exchange program run by CASPAR in conjunction with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she saw firsthand that the “stereotypes about who is using this drug are really off,” as an 18-year-old man sought a needle, she said. “This is a kid that could have been my son that I could have been tucking into bed at night” she said. “He looked like everybody else.”

She said CASPAR has helped people with drug and alcohol problems go onto attorney, small business owners and city officials.

Enman said she started at CASPAR because she believed in its mission of serving people who are typically underserved. “As a personal journey, I thought I could make a difference for this organization,” said Enman, a former teacher and researcher who served on CASPAR’s board of directors for three years before taking her current post.

CASPAR started in 1970 as a community response to what Enman called a phenomenon of emergency rooms being “overridden with alcoholic men,” it has since become a haven for both men and women battling drug and alcohol addiction, and it is comprised of 12 programs, including residential group homes and drop-in centers serving 5,000 people annually, according to their own statistics.

Enman touted CASPAR’s unique place among other shelters in Cambridge and Somerville, as the group operates a homeless shelter for people who are unable or unwilling to give up their alcohol or drug use, as all other shelters in the area require sobriety. “This remains the only place where homeless, drug-addicted men and women are welcome,” Enman said.

CASPAR started as a public hospital service for low-income patients, newly immigrated families and people without insurance and remains a non-profit, joint venture between staff, volunteers and students, hosting programs funded by a $4,000,000 annual budget. 

In addition to its blend of city, state and federal monies, including a community development block grant provided by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, CASPAR supplements its budget with fundraisers, such as its upcoming third annual “Gimme Shelter” campaign in Somerville and Cambridge.