A rise in Central Coast heroin arrests is underway. Recent busts in Monterey County indicate large quantities of the narcotic are available to drug users. Two pounds of heroin were seized in Salinas on April 3rd. It is believed that increased heroin sales are linked to prescription opioid addiction. The street drug is cheaper and in cases easier to obtain than pills. In response central coast law enforcement agencies are beginning to carry the overdose antidote, Narcan, in patrol vehicles. In 2016 49 deaths on the Central Coast were attributed to heroin overdose.
