Utah Dad Declares War on Drug Dealers

Nov. 27, 2006 — -- Lance Merrill came to know the seedy streets of Provo, Utah, while searching for his 19-year-old, heroin-addicted daughter, Jani.

"This is the part of town where there was just a lot of obvious drug activity," Merrill said.

Just a year ago, Jani seemed like the all-American girl. She wore braces, dated the high school quarterback, went to the prom, and loved the outdoors.

When all that changed, her dad suspected something was wrong.

"She liked to hang glide. She liked to ski. She liked to hike," Merrill said. "All of a sudden, all the motivation was gone for all those things."

Merrill confronted his daughter, who initially denied she was doing drugs.

"I'd say, 'I'm not asking if you're doing drugs. I wanna know what drug you're doing,'" he said. "We went around [the issue] for a couple of hours, and finally she told me that she was snorting heroin. And when she admitted that to me, I knew we had a terrible problem."

Utah County authorities say heroin addiction among teens is on the rise. On average, statistics say, one young person dies of a heroin overdose each week.

"It's just amazing how much [heroin] was coming into our valley and how many young kids were experimenting with it, and it's killing them," said Lt. Phil Murphy of Provo's Major Crimes Task Force.

The night before Jani was to begin a full-time drug rehabilitation program, she overdosed in her own bedroom.

"It became her prison at the end, because we locked her in her room." Merrill said. "We put a locking handle. We thought she'd be safe if we could contain her."

Her family could not protect her; her dealer was crafty and persistent. Because Jani couldn't leave the house, he brought the drugs to her.

"They would actually come throw heroin through the window to her," Merrill said.

Before Jani was to leave for rehab, her parents discovered her unconscious in bed. She had overdosed but was still alive. Over the next six months, Jani overdosed three times.

"I told her, I said, 'Jani, do you realize that the next time you use heroin, you will die?'" Merrill said. "And she said, 'Dad, I don't want to die.'"