The cause of Georgia Tech baseball player Michael Hutts' death hasn't been determined, but the mention of heroin in the police report on his death was a reminder that abuse of the addictive drug is on the rise.

According to the Georgia Drug Rehab Alliance, local law enforcement agencies around Atlanta are reporting increasing problems in their jurisdictions.

Ryan Tinkoff, Hutts' roommate, told police that an acquaintance of Hutts who was known to use heroin — "possibly with Mr. Hutts," the report said — arrived at their apartment about 11 the night before the Tech pitcher was found dead.

There are simple explanations for heroin's re-emergence. In Atlanta and elsewhere, heroin today — which largely comes from Mexico and South America rather than Southwest Asia as in years past — is cheaper and stronger than ever before.

Because of lower prices — as inexpensive as $7 a hit, according to some reports — new users are more apt to snort rather than inject the drug. "Cheese," a snortable powder made from cutting sticky Mexican black tar heroin with an over-the-counter analgesic, has been linked to deaths among young people.

The National Drug Intelligence Center estimates that heroin demand is still driven mostly by 800,000 hardcore addicts. But it also warns of increasing demand as people who become addicted to prescription narcotics, such as OxyContin, may turn to heroin, which can be cheaper and more available.

A widely quoted 2007 study that was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and conducted by the University of Michigan showed heroin use was trending up slightly among eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders, even as overall drug use had fallen.

Among 12th-graders, 1 percent reported using heroin without a needle, up from 0.6 percent in 2006. OxyContin use was reported by 5.2 percent of 12th-graders.