An Ann Arbor man found unresponsive in the basement of a fraternity March 29 died from a heroin overdose, according to the Ann Arbor Police Department.
Dustin Goodman, a member of the Zeta Psi fraternity located on East University Avenue, and former employee of Jimmy’s Sergeant Pepper’s, had lethal amounts of heroin in his blood, the Ann Arbor News reported Friday.
Goodman was found dead in the basement of the fraternity house around 1 p.m. on March 29. He was seen at the party March 28.
Detective Lt. Chris Heatley said police have not yet determined if anything else contributed to his death, and he also had alcohol and trace amounts of marijuana in his blood, the Ann Arbor News reported.
Zeta Psi is not affiliated with the Interfraternity Council and does not participate in a formal rush process.
Members reiterated that this event was an isolated incident and they did not know of any hard drug use at the house.
“I didn’t think there was any hard drugs,” said one member, who wished to remain anonymous. “I would say it was an isolated event.”
A fraternity member was also found dead in his apartment in 1998 due to an overdose of alcohol and cocaine.
The Zeta Psi house is owned by the Xi Alumni Association of Zeta Psi.
Heroin use has decreased nationwide among high school students, according to the 2001 Monitoring the Future Survey, a survey of high school students’ drug use. This comes after seeing a rise in heroin use for several years in the mid-’90s.
But the Community Epidemiology Work group, a network of researchers from 20 metropolitan areas who meet semiannually to discuss trends in drug use, reported in December 2001 that heroin use in Detroit was increasing.
The group also found that mentions of heroin by emergency room doctors has increased significantly in seven cities, including Detroit.
According to the report, heroin was responsible for 32 percent of drug-related admissions in Detroit hospitals, nearly half of all admissions statewide.
In the June 2001 study, Detroit ranked 10th among 20 cities in hospital emergency room admissions due to heroin.