First and foremost is the recurrence of addiction with which Ms. Stone has struggled her entire life. This reflects the powerful dependency which is a distinct feature of heroin as is this compares to other substances. Indeed, Ms. Stone makes explicit mention of the intense physical and emotional rigors of withdrawal that are associated with detoxification. The number of times that Ms. Stone has engaged in detox and relapsed back into heroin use is startling. According to her own report, she has undergone the painful process of detox ten times. This underscores on an anecdotal level what is true for New York on a general scale. Namely, the continued availability of heroin combined with the relative lack of effectiveness of programs aimed at rehabilitation tend to make addiction relapse a highly probable occurrence.

Ms. Stone's case is rendered yet more persistent due to what seems an apparent failure to address...
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