In 2014, there were over 150 heroin-related deaths in King County. The highest it has been in two decades, according to Northpoint Recovery, a treatment center in Bellevue and Boise, Idaho.

Tom Hargan, the prosecuting attorney for Maple Valley and Covington, said he has noticed an increase in heroin use in the area.

There is a trend of addiction in Covington that Hargan said he is seeing move to Maple Valley.

He said first, marijuana was the issue, and then it was meth and now it’s heroin. Heroin is much harder to get off once started, according to Hargan.

Hargan said he thinks heroin addictions start when people are teens due to opioid abuse and then they progressively start using heroin.

“From my experience, people have gone to heroin because it’s cheaper. I think it’s more available and I think the police department is looking into the availably of it,” he said.

With heroin as cheap as it is, the drug is now more accessible to new users as well, Hargan said.

According to Hargan, the higher drug usage is, the more thefts there will be in the area. People steal so they are able to support their heroin addiction.

“Just from my experience in court, I’ve see a lot of people admit to stealing because they have a heroin addiction,” he said.

It’s usually younger people, even young successful people that Hargan said he see’s doing this, but there is a population of older adults with addictions as well.

Hargan said he has been encouraging the city councils to get a treatment center closer to the Maple Valley, Covington area. Otherwise, addicts will have to drive to Auburn to get the treatment needed to recover from addiction.

“(I am) seeing more and more people suffering from addictions in my court, I’ve been telling councils that I’ve been seeing a rise in it for years,” he said.

If they are a heroin addict, they probably don’t have a license, so they probably won’t have a way to get to Auburn, Hargan said.

“It’s not easy (the process). First that person would need to be willing to go through it (treatment), and two, they need the resource to go to,” he said.

Hargan said from his standpoint, the only other option is jail. He said it is his only “ammo.”

Even though the idea of warehousing people because they have an addiction is not ideal, sometimes it is the only thing there is to do if the person is not willing to get treatment, can’t get treatment or have more serious offenses.

Once that person gets out of jail, it is up to the person to stay sober or not. According to Hargan, he has seen it go both ways.

“Typically, if they are committed, if they get into an AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) or NA (Narcotics Anonymous) program, that’s usually the most successful,” he said. “That way if they want to relapse, they have someone to talk to.”

Jail time depends on what the underlying offense is, according to Hargan. People can see jail time from 90-364 days depending on if they were caught doing more than just illegal drugs.

Hargan said there are segments in the community that have more drug trade than other places, but the fact of the matter is, drug trade is everywhere.

He said the police are aware of the drug trades in the area and are doing the best they can to combat it.

On a typical court day, Hargan said he handles about 90 to 100 cases and about 10 are heroin related.

Hargan said with the younger population, it is easier to treat a drug addiction because they have parents and family to encourage them to go into treatment.

“I just want to encourage the community to support treatment for families of individuals that are suffering from this to get treatment,” Hargan said. “I think that’s the biggest thing or else it will be reoccurring.”