ONLINE SPECIAL REPORT: Highland County sees growing drug problems

Editor's Note: In the Jan. 1, 2011 edition of The Highland County Press featured a story that examined the growing heroin epidemic. (See http://www.highlandcountypress.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=6313&Sec… and http://www.highlandcountypress.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=6376&Sec…

Law enforcement and court officials agreed that a "war" is raging and that something needs to be done to address the growing problem.

"I had dreams. Dream that did not include jail ... That did not includecdrugs."

     Each month, letters from inmates incarcerated in local jails are sent to area judges. Their requests are varied, from asking for leniency to begging to be released. 

     Highland County Common Pleas Court Judge David McKenna said that in the hundreds of letters he receives each year, many ask for help in battling drug addiction. 

     Last week, McKenna told The Highland County Press that the inmates/addicts often are asking for a "magical" treatment facility that will cure them. In a selection of letters provided to The Highland County Press by the judge, there are many similar themes. Some letters are composed in neat handwriting, while others are scrawled and folded up like notes that would be passed in school.

     Each story seems different, but the circumstances are all the same. They have parents who they have let down. They have children who needed them, but they have now been taken away. Some are pregnant.

     "I will not do anymore drugs."

     "Please give me a chance. I need help, I want help. I've asked for help, so hopefully you can help."

     "I'm sorry I left the treatment program early. If you can get me back in I won't make the same mistake twice."

     They each are asking for help toward a better life.

     Joe Adray, the executive director of Family Recovery Services in Hillsboro said that the start of the genesis of the heroin epidemic was the "need" for cheap alternative to prescription drugs.

     And epidemic is the word that is continually used.

     "I don't hesitate to call it that at all," Adray said.

     Adray has been working at FRS since 1997, a time when heroin cases were practically rare. 

     "Until about 2005 or so, we might literally see two or three heroin addicts come in a year," he said. "They were usually people who came from the city, were maybe back to be with family members or they came from other locations. In 2005-26, we began to see an increase in prescription drug abuse – Vicodin, Percocet, Oxycodone, Oxycontin. It got to the point where 50 percent of the people who were coming in for treatment had come kind of opiate abuse, coupled, at that time, with meth or maybe marijuana or alcohol."

     Prescription drug habits are very expensive, Adray said, and as finances ran out for the addicts, they began looking for cheaper alternatives.

     "It's not uncommon for one 80 milligram pill of Oxycontin to sell for $80-$100 on the street," he said. "When it got to the point where their prescriptions would run out or they couldn't afford prescription opiates any longer access began to flow to the much cheaper heroin. They could get that same high for maybe $10. It's supply and deman, and as the demand increased, people began selling it more and more. At least a third of the people we are seeing are using or have some kind of history with heroin addiction."

     Among the hundreds of letters that McKenna receives, there is a common theme among each one. "Can you please furlough me so I can get to a treatment facility?"

     Family members, and the inmates themselves plead for help in getting the treatment they need to battle the addiction. According to McKenna, they are often filled with empty promises of changing their lives – once they are incarcerated access to the drug is eliminated. But once they are released, more often than not, they turn back to the addiction.

     "I am trying to do what I need to, to straighten my life up and get my family back," one woman writes. "It seems nearly impossible to do that. Please give me one more chance to show you that I can do this. Once more chance to prove to my family that I can and will be a good a better mother and that I will no longer let drugs be a part of my life."

     A letter, making the same request, followed months later after she was arrested again on similar charges.

     Adray said that the withdraw from heroin, while not fatal, makes the addict feel like they are dying.

     "People really wish they would die they are so sick," Adray said. "If you could take the worst case of the flu you've ever had and multiply it by 40 or 50 times, that's kind of what they are going through. Whereas with alcohol withdraw can be lethal, you might not be as sick. Heroin withdraw is so painful, people will do anything to keep from being dope sick. If it means putting a needle in their arm for the first time, it doesn't matter if it's a prescription or heroin. All of a sudden they find out, 'I feel as

good, if not better than I did when I was on the pills.' It's a lot cheaper and they just keep doing it."

     As a person used opiates, according to Adray, more opiate receptors are created in the brain.

     "They brain is just screaming for the drug," he said, "and it takes time for brain chemistry to normalize. And it doesn't happen quickly. That's one of the things that makes this so insidious."

     So what are the options for individuals struggling to kick addiction? Adray said that as with most state funded program, money for resources is drying up. However, there are programs in place, and sources to turn to.

     Adray said that local counseling, law enforcement and court personnel, medical professionals, drug treatment specialists and members of the general public are working on the formation of an opiate treatment coalition. FRS Counseling, along with the area Alcohol, Drug Addiction & Mental Health (ADM) Services board - the board through which government dollars go through to be administered to recovery programs – along with other recovery agencies, are working toward the development of the coalition to provide

treatments and alternatives to help quell the growing heroin epidemic.

     In the last three years, Adray said that funding for human services has been cut 30-40 percent, with another 10 percent expected to be cut the first half of 2011.

     "This is something that may develop through the Criminal Justice Advisory Committee," Adray said. "Judge McKenna has voiced his support, (Highland County Common Pleas Court) Judge (Rocky) Coss has voiced his support," he said. "We have a number of people who are aware of the problem. You can lock people up and you can keep them off heroin, but when they get out they are probably going to start using again. And in the meantime you

are filing up the jails so there is no capacity to house violent criminals because you have locked up people who could possibly be in treatment and could be functioning much better. It becomes a Rubix cube to solve, because everything is connected. We know that treatment costs one four of what it does to incarcerate, but that also takes sticking with it."

     Facing the addiction and seeking sustained treatment is something only the individual can do, he said.

     One inmate wrote to McKenna three times in one month saying, "Only you can help me get the treatment I need."

     In a letter written day later, she says she knows she must change.

     "I really want to come home. I miss my baby so much, it's unreal. I've done so many horrible things and regret every bit of it. I know I say that every time. I'll do whatever it takes or you can throw me in jail forever ... I am young and stupid, though I was having fun. It did nothing for me but turn me into a different person, a person I never want to be again ... No one will have anything to do with me, not my friends, or family. 

     Adray said there are several models of coalitions in Ohio that have had success in treatments and attacking the epidemic. But it usually takes strict monitoring in the administration of drugs to help ease the addiction and withdraw such as methadone or Suboxone, a medication that helps take away opiate cravings by blocking receptors in the brain.

     "We're working on putting together a treatment team," he said. "Some people believe you put someone on methadone it's like getting someone hooked on one drug to get them off another. I can argue both sides; it's also like putting someone on insulin medication so someone can live a better life." 

   

Editor's Note: In the Jan. 1, 2011 edition of The Highland County Press featured a story that examined the growing heroin epidemic. (See related links, below.)
 

Law enforcement and court officials agreed that a "war" is raging and that something needs to be done to address the growing problem.

Each month, letters from inmates incarcerated in local jails are sent to area judges. Their requests are varied, from asking for leniency to begging to being released. 

Highland County Common Pleas Court Judge David McKenna said that in the hundreds of letters he receives each year, many ask for help in battling drug addiction. 

Last week, McKenna told The Highland County Press that the inmates/addicts often are asking for a "magical" treatment facility that will cure them. In a selection of letters provided to The Highland County Press by the judge, there are many similar themes. Some letters are composed in neat handwriting, while others are scrawled and folded up like notes that would be passed in school.

Each story seems different, but the circumstances are all the same. They have parents who they have let down. They have children who needed them, but they have now been taken away. Some are pregnant.

They each are asking for help toward a better life.

Joe Adray, the executive director of Family Recovery Services in Hillsboro said that the start of the genesis of the heroin epidemic was the "need" for a cheap alternative to prescription drugs.

And epidemic is the word that is continually used.

"I don't hesitate to call it that at all," Adray said.

Adray has been working at FRS since 1997, a time when heroin cases were practically rare. 

"Until about 2005 or so, we might literally see two or three heroin addicts come in a year," he said. "They were usually people who came from the city, were maybe back to be with family members or they came from other locations. In 2005-06, we began to see an increase in prescription drug abuse – Vicodin, Percocet, Oxycodone, Oxycontin. It got to the point where 50 percent of the people who were coming in for treatment had come kind of opiate abuse, coupled, at that time, with meth or maybe marijuana or alcohol."

Prescription drug habits are very expensive, Adray said, and as finances ran out for the addicts, they began looking for cheaper alternatives.

"It's not uncommon for one 80 milligram pill of Oxycontin to sell for $80-$100 on the street," he said. "When it got to the point where their prescriptions would run out or they couldn't afford prescription opiates any longer, access began to flow to the much cheaper heroin. They could get that same high for maybe $10. It's supply and demand, and as the demand increased, people began selling it more and more. At least a third of the people we are seeing are using or have some kind of history with heroin addiction."

Among the hundreds of letters that McKenna receives, there is a common theme among each one. "Can you please furlough me so I can get to a treatment facility?"

Family members, and the inmates themselves, plead for help in getting the treatment they need to battle the addiction. According to McKenna, they are often filled with empty promises of changing their lives – once they are incarcerated, access to the drug is eliminated. But once they are released, more often than not, they turn back to the addiction.

A letter, making the same request, followed months later after she was arrested again on similar charges.

Adray said that the withdrawal from heroin, while not fatal, makes the addict feel like they are dying.

"People really wish they would die, they are so sick," Adray said. "If you could take the worst case of the flu you've ever had and multiply it by 40 or 50 times, that's kind of what they are going through. Whereas with alcohol withdrawal can be lethal, you might not be as sick. Heroin withdrawal is so painful, people will do anything to keep from being dope sick. If it means putting a needle in their arm for the first time, it doesn't matter if it's a prescription or heroin. All of a sudden they find out, 'I feel as good, if not better, than I did when I was on the pills.' It's a lot cheaper, and they just keep doing it."

As a person uses opiates, according to Adray, more opiate receptors are created in the brain.

"The brain is just screaming for the drug," he said, "and it takes time for brain chemistry to normalize. And it doesn't happen quickly. That's one of the things that makes this so insidious."

So what are the options for individuals struggling to kick addiction? Adray said that as with most state-funded programs, money for resources is drying up. However, there are programs in place and sources to turn to.

Adray said that local counseling, law enforcement and court personnel, medical professionals, drug treatment specialists and members of the general public are working on the formation of an opiate treatment coalition. FRS Counseling, along with the area Alcohol, Drug Addiction & Mental Health (ADM) Services board – the board through which government dollars go through to be administered to recovery programs – along with other recovery agencies, are working toward the development of the coalition to provide

treatments and alternatives to help quell the growing heroin epidemic.

In the last three years, Adray said that funding for human services has been cut 30-40 percent, with another 10 percent expected to be cut the first half of 2011.

"This is something that may develop through the Criminal Justice Advisory Committee," Adray said. "Judge McKenna has voiced his support, (Highland County Common Pleas Court) Judge (Rocky) Coss has voiced his support," he said. "We have a number of people who are aware of the problem. You can lock people up and you can keep them off heroin, but when they get out, they are probably going to start using again. And in the meantime, you are filing up the jails so there is no capacity to house violent criminals because you have locked up people who could possibly be in treatment and could be functioning much better. It becomes a Rubik's cube to solve because everything is connected. We know that treatment costs one fourth of what it does to incarcerate, but that also takes sticking with it."

Facing the addiction and seeking sustained treatment is something only the individual can do, he said.

One inmate wrote to McKenna three times in one month, saying, "Only you can help me get the treatment I need."

In a letter written a day later, she says she knows she must change.

Adray said there are several models of coalitions in Ohio that have had success in treatments and attacking the epidemic. But it usually takes strict monitoring in the administration of drugs to help ease the addiction and withdraw such as methadone or Suboxone, a medication that helps take away opiate cravings by blocking receptors in the brain.

"We're working on putting together a treatment team," he said. "Some people believe you put someone on methadone it's like getting someone hooked on one drug to get them off another. I can argue both sides; it's also like putting someone on insulin medication so someone can live a better life." 

Note: With special thanks from The Highland County Press to Judge David McKenna, Joe Adray and all local law enforcement professionals.