Pubdate: Sun, 07 Dec 2003
Source: Bluefield Daily Telegraph (WV)
Copyright: 2003 Bluefield Daily Telegraph
Contact:  http://www.bdtonline.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1483
Author: Bill Archer, Bluefield Daily Telegraph
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone)

BLAND RESIDENTS PLAN UNIFIED APPROACH TO DROWNING OUT COUNTY-WIDE DRUG PROBLEM

BASTIAN, Va. - About a decade ago, the Bland County Board of Supervisors 
came up with a clever slogan in an attempt to market the county, calling 
Bland "the light at the end of two tunnels. In recent years, that light has 
been shrouded to some extent by the "rampant" abuse of prescription drugs 
among the county's youth. Although drug abuse constitutes a major problem 
in both rural and urban parts of the country, somehow its hard for most 
people to fathom that Bland County, one of Virginia's most rural locations 
with a population of about 6,600 souls, has a drug problem.

"It's here, and I would say it's growing," Merry Etling, a nurse 
practitioner who works at the Bland County Medical Clinic in Bastian, said. 
Etling also helps addicts and their families cope with addiction through 
the local ALANON Chapter. "It's killing people. We had another drug 
overdose last week. It's devastating in a county this size."

Etling said the abuse of prescription medication isn't limited to young 
people. "I had one woman who said she had become addicted to Xanax. Her 
doctor got her hooked on it, and she said she didn't even know it was 
addictive. It took her days to go through withdrawal. She said it was hell.

"We have another woman whose son became addicted to prescription pain 
killers," Etling said. "Once they're hooked, they'll do anything to get the 
drug. He's in a nursing home now. He acts like a little child, but he's in 
his 30s."

Of course, OxyContin remains one of the most popular drugs, according to 
Etling. "They still call it 'hillbilly heroin,' and it's abused by people 
from the very young to middle age. The doctors prescribe it, or addicts 
will buy it from old people who have a prescription. Can you tell me why a 
doctor would ever prescribe OxyContin to a 20-year-old. There's no reason."

Etling said that about 80 percent of Bland's drug problem is abuse of 
prescription medications. "They're snorting it, and they're shooting it 
up," she said.

"As a result, we have a growing Hepatitis C problem in Bland County from 
addicts using dirty needles," Etling said.

"There's something we can do," Etling said. "We need older people to quit 
selling their prescription medications to make extra money. It's killing 
people. We can't make an addict quit, but we can stop enabling them by 
doing nothing. We need to work together."

One Bland County mother who has been struggling with her son's addiction 
for several years, heard Etling's message at an ALANON meeting and started 
taking action. On Wednesday, about 35 people who are either in drug-ravaged 
families or willing to join the fight against drug abuse, came out for a 
meeting at the Bastian Church of God to discuss the possibility of taking a 
unified approach to the problem.

"We were all encouraged," the woman said. "I think all of us wanted to see 
how the in-coming officials would respond to our comments. Our in-coming 
sheriff, Jerry Thompson, was there, as well as Henry Blessing, the 
in-coming supervisor from Bastian and our new School Superintendent Don 
Hodock. I was so impressed with them."

But it was the personal stories of tragedy that motivated the woman. "I was 
just blown away by the county people who stood there and told stories about 
how drugs tear families apart. Prescription drugs are so addictive."

Thompson was in the Virginia State Police before running for Bland Sheriff 
this November. He said that the message from the Bastian meeting resonated 
loud and clear with him.

"We have no other choice," he said of his plans to take an aggressive 
approach to irradiating the county's drug abuse problem. It's what the 
people want us to do. Yes, we have widespread drug abuse ... I'd say, 
rampant. We in law enforcement can do a lot, but it takes people too. The 
real fight against drug addiction starts in the home."

Thompson said he was impressed by the willingness of the group that called 
themselves "Concerned Parents" to take an active part in the war on drugs 
by supplying police with good leads they can follow up on. "We're a poor 
county here in Bland," he said. "We really have nothing for our young 
people to do other than church and school activities. Still, I'll work with 
any parent who's willing to join this fight."

"We all have a mandate," Blessing said. "It's going to be a whole new board 
coming in January, and things will change for sure. The whole county's got 
to get organized to address this problem and the first thing is to admit 
that we have a problem," Blessing said. "We have a problem."

Blessing was particularly unsettled by a countywide drug round-up in the 
spring that resulted in 32 arrests, but only one defendant who actually 
went to jail. "You have to set an example," he said.

"If we can get these kids high on (sports) or church activities, it will 
keep them away from drugs. I grew up on a farm and I had to work. Kids have 
to work too. We're going to work on this problem," he said.

"Blessing characterized the meeting at the Bastian Church of God as "a good 
start," but added that the entire county has a long way to go. "Maybe in 
six months, we can talk about this again," he said. "I don't know of any 
other county that has come out and shown a willingness to cooperate in 
order to solve this problem."

Etling said that Clint Kegley, the newly-elected Bland Commonwealth 
Attorney has also expressed his willingness to be part of the countywide effort.
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