Pubdate: Tue, 12 Aug 2008 Source: Standard-Speaker (Hazleton, PA) Copyright: 2008 The Standard-Speaker Contact: http://www.standardspeaker.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1085 Author: David Traub Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment) ADDICT: 'YOU KNOW IT'S ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE AND WORSE' Editor's note: In the first half of a two-day series, the Standard-Speaker examined how drugs affect crime in Hazleton by profiling an individual who used and sold illegal drugs. Today's installment profiles two local recovering addicts who were recently involved in the judicial system. Their names have been changed to protect their identities. As a high school cheerleader, business owner, college graduate and mother of two, Carol stayed away from drugs. It wasn't until emotional and physical abuse from her husband changed that. Carol, a Hazleton native recovering from heroin addiction, first used cocaine to cope with her husband's infidelity, which became apparent when he transmitted a sexually transmitted infection to her. At age 28, she divorced. In her early 30s, she tried heroin after she lost custody of her children. That use eventually turned into a habit that led to the loss of her business and home. In 1999, her habit was costing her $300 a day. She regularly shoplifted at retail stores and supermarkets for drug money because she couldn't afford to pay for basic living expenses. "You're scared when you wake up. You're sick, and you know it's only going to get worse and worse," she said. "Once you use heroin, your body gets violently ill after three days, and the only way to cure it is to do (heroin) again," she said, recalling that her withdrawal symptoms sometimes included spasms, diarrhea or seizures. "Joseph" As a native of Tamaqua, Joseph became involved in dealing drugs with a small network of friends. His habit started from recreational use in his 20s to daily addiction in his 30s. He began taking LSD, a stimulant with hallucinogenic effects, at concerts while he followed the Grateful Dead tour for seven years, starting in 1988. While following tours, Joseph would work seasonally. His jobs included electronics work, using his college degree, but eventually he incorporated LSD sales into his T-shirt and beverage stands. Around Jerry Garcia's death in 1995, Joseph tried heroin. Joseph briefly owned an electronics business in Ohio and lived with a girlfriend before she was imprisoned for drug-related activity, which contributed stress to the development of his habit. He returned to Pennsylvania in the late 90s, living in Reading. During that time he began spending most of his paycheck on drugs. That year, he was arrested for LSD possession with intent to deliver and served a four-month sentence in county prison, an offense he repeated in 2001 that resulted in a six-month sentence. During that time, his addiction demanded 20 bags of heroin every two to three days. He afforded the habit through selling LSD for $5 a hit. He would buy a tablet the size of a playing card for $100 -- enough for 100 hits. "In the town of Tamaqua, you can sell about 200 hits per week for a profit of about $800," he said. Joseph's network in Tamaqua included about a dozen users. Each member roughly had a corner of the market with a particular drug that they sold or traded. He would sometimes make drug runs to Philadelphia or other large cities in Pennsylvania to get cheaper heroin, and his brushes with the law were mainly traffic citations. Since 1999, though, his habit has cost him three years in jail and two years of addiction. Throughout that time, he has intermittently bounced back to being clean and has recovered at halfway houses and rehabilitation clinics. "Every time you get out of jail, you were clean for about a year," he said. "It's a spiraling-down effect." Part of his recovery included Narcotics Anonymous meetings, where he saw others fall back to old habits like he did. "People disappear after a year, but you know where they are." Last April, Joseph was transitioning between clinics on his own. He checked out of a treatment program in Allenwood in late April, and he had arranged to check into another center in Philadelphia about a week later. But before he re-entered therapy once again, he was arrested and held at $25,000 bail for charges brought on by his family that include alleged theft and forgery of checks. Drug networks Experts in the area estimate that 90 percent of all criminal activity in the area is drug-related. Those crimes are typically led by addicts whose habits often leave them homeless or on the verge of poverty, affecting family members, local residents and various businesses on a daily basis. "Once the body gets addicted, it's very hard to kick. It's a matter of survival," said Ed Pane, president and chief executive officer of Serento Gardens, a substance abuse treatment program in Hazleton that loses more than nine out of every 10 patients back to heroin. Pane calls this recidivism rate "astoundingly high." To help alleviate these relapse rates, plans for an opiate treatment program are currently being pursued by Discovery House, a Rhode Island based company with clinics across the country. "We've been committed to Hazleton for a good year now, and we think we found a site that will add to the community," said Rob Kornacki, director of development. "People understand that treatment is a good thing and it's a matter of finding the right spot." The company has sought to secure a location for the center at 570 W. Broad St., its third attempt in the city. Supporting bad habits Without a steady intake, heroin addicts may experience convulsions, insomnia or seizures among other symptoms for 48 to 72 hours after their last use. These symptoms typically subside after a week, but many addicts stabilize themselves by returning to the drug. "After that first use of heroin, it's like their first love. They'll give up anything to try and recreate that initial high," said Al Ciliberto, a case worker at Serento Gardens. That characterization was echoed during a recent Hazleton meeting for Narcotics Anonymous, a community-based organization with chapters worldwide, when one member said his drugs of choice were "more" and "feel-good." "From the time they get up to the time they go to sleep, they're just trying to support that habit," said Cpl. Josh Winters, an officer with the Sugarloaf Police Department. "Without a job, that's a lot of money." For many addicts whose habits resulted in their homelessness, Winters says the only thing they own is a house eviction. Vicious cycle Carol served time in out-of-state prisons for four years around the turn of the century. In the last eight years, she's been in rehabilitation centers three times. In 2004, after multiple relapses, she became homeless. For the past few years, she's been living out-of-state and working full-time in an area where she attended her first clinic. Outside of Hazleton, she said there are more opportunities and less stigma associated with her past habits. "It's such a vicious cycle," she said. "People who you were involved with will try and keep you sick." Carol, now in her early 40s, recalled her story while sitting in the Luzerne County Correction facility in a prison uniform. She'd just left a preliminary hearing on charges stemming from layers of thefts in 2007. Last summer, an officer picked up Carol and some friends at a supermarket. He inspected their truck to find numerous articles of clothing with price tags still attached, a charge that she said did not involve her. Authorities subsequently put a warrant out for her arrest, which brought her across state lines, back to Pennsylvania. Shortly after, a district judge waived all charges. Today Carol and Joseph have currently been clean, but both sought help through treatment centers outside the area. "There's need there currently, but the problem is they're driving anytime between 60 and 90 minutes to get treatment outside of the area," Kornacki said. Recovering addicts profiled by the Standard-Speaker checked into inpatient services in Reading and Allenwood. The closest treatment center in the area for addicts seeking methadone treatment is Plains Township. Opiate treatment programs, commonly referred to as methadone clinics, primarily allow users to gradually wane off the physical and chemical dependence of hard drugs with assisted medicine. Establishing a clinic in the area, Kornacki says, gives recovering addicts more access, alleviates the burden of family members and makes the program compatible with work schedules. These programs thereby help reduce an addict's dependence on illicit drugs and reinstate their productivity to the community, he said. "All of the evidence speaks to treating people closer to their area," he said. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom