Police arrested a father after 48 packets of heroin were found in his 2-year-old son's jacket at a northern New Jersey daycare center.
The child's father, Philip Young, 27, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child and is being held on $85,000 bail, authorities said.
An employee at Michael's Energy Factory in Paterson discovered the drugs, and police say there is no evidence that the toddler knew the heroin was in his pocket, or that other children were exposed to the drug.
This report follows U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's announcement Monday that the recent increase in heroin-related public deaths is an "urgent and growing public health crisis," according to The Associated Press. Holder went so far as to suggest that first responders have medication on hand that can reverse the effects of an overdose.
Between 2006 and 2010, the number of fatal heroin overdoses increased by 45 percent, according to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.
A recent video message posted on the Justice Department's website reflects the federal government's concern about the growing incidence of heroin and prescription painkiller abuse.
"Addiction to heroin and other opiates, including certain prescription painkillers, 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.
At least 17 states plus Washington D.C. allow naloxone, commonly known by its brand name Narcan, to be distributed to the public, and some states have bills in the works that, if passed, would increase access to the combatant drug.
Narcan comes in a spray and injectable form, and has the potential to save lives if administered within a certain amount of time within a heroin overdose, although some critics think that its availability may encourage drug use.
