After 48 packets of heroin were found in a 2-year-old toddler's jacket at a northern New Jersey daycare center, his father was arrested by the police, the Associated Press reported.
Being held on $85,000 bail, 27-year-old Phillip Young has been charged with endangering the welfare of a child, authorities said.
The heroin was discovered by an employee at Michael's Energy Factory in Paterson. There's no indication the child knew the drugs were in his pocket or that other children were exposed to the heroin, police said.
Parents at the daycare said Tuesday that they hadn't been told about what was found.
"My daughter sees something on the floor, puts it in her mouth thinking its candy -- same thing could have happened here," said Dulce Ibanez, a parent.
According to the AP, the arrest comes as U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday called an increase in heroin-related deaths an "urgent and growing public health crisis" and said first responders should carry with them a drug that can reverse the effects of an overdose.
The federal government's concern about the growing prevalence of heroin and prescription painkillers' abuse is reflected in the video message posted on the Justice Department's website, according to the AP.
Between 2006 and 2010, the number of overdose deaths involving heroin increased by 45 percent, according to White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.
"Addiction to heroin and other opiates, including certain prescription pain-killers, is impacting the lives of Americans in every state, in every region, and from every background and walk of life - and all too often, with deadly results," Holder said in the message.
"His public support for an antidote that could be used to rescue overdosing drug users mirrors the position of the White House drug policy office, which has also urged all first responders to have the medication on hand," the AP reported. "At least 17 states and the Washington, D.C. - allow naloxone - commonly known by the brand name Narcan - to be distributed to the public, and bills are pending in some states to increase access to it."
If administered within a certain window, Narcan, which comes in spray and injectable form, has the potential to save many lives, advocates said. But critics fear that making the antidote too accessible could encourage drug use.
By cutting off the supply chain that illicitly furnishes prescription painkillers to drug addicts, Holder said law enforcement is combatting the overdose problem.
More work, however, is needed to prevent and treat drug addiction, he said.
"Confronting this crisis will require a combination of enforcement and treatment. The Justice Department is committed to both," he said.
Bill Piper, director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance, a group that advocates against what it sees as "the excesses" of the war on drugs, said in addition to promoting broader access to Narcan, the Justice Department should also back better education about heroin abuse and promote "Good Samaritan" laws that protect from prosecution individuals who call police to report an overdose, the AP reported.
