Pubdate: Sun, 24 May 2009
Source: Lancaster Eagle-Gazette (OH)
Copyright: 2009 Lancaster Eagle-Gazette
Contact:  http://www.lancastereaglegazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3143
Author: Morgan Day
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)

COMMUNITY MEETINGS TO ADDRESS COUNTY DRUG PROBLEM

Officials To Educate Citizens On Recognizing Signs, Reporting 
Suspicious Activity

LANCASTER -Concerns that the heroin and prescription  drug problem in 
Lancaster is too close for comfort  spurred local officials to 
organize meetings to assuage  residents' fears.

Lancaster police and Prevention Works for a Drug Free  Fairfield 
County are trying a new approach to the  problem by playing host to 
two neighborhood  discussions.

Officials from both agencies hope the neighborhood  meetings will 
help educate residents so they can report  helpful information to the 
police, said Prevention  Works Director Toni Ashton. Not only that, 
but Ashton  hopes the education will reduce the instances of 
prescription drug and heroin abuse.

That's a problem that's been on many residents' minds,  she said.

"I had people telling me about concerns with finding  needles on the 
sidewalks or in the alleys and what do  they do with the needles, and 
kids playing out in the  yard and being around some of the 
paraphernalia," she  said.

Lancaster Police Chief Dave Bailey has heard similar concerns.

"Everyone has questions: What do they do? How do they  report drug 
activity? What do they do if they find  needles?" Bailey said. "In 
essence, how do they deal  with this."

Ashton and Bailey want residents to be able to  recognize warning 
signs not only in individuals, but  also in terms of what's going on 
in their  neighborhoods.

Sometimes an indicator of drug activity is a rundown  residence or an 
unsightly area in a neighborhood. Those  often are breeding grounds 
for crime, Bailey said.

"When you let one house or one area deteriorate, it  seems to send a 
signal that it's all right to do  unlawful things in that area," he said.

Fairfield-Hocking Major Crimes Unit Cmdr. Eric Brown  will attend the meetings.

Brown, whose unit investigates major narcotics  offenses, said the 
communication at the meetings will  help the public and law enforcement.

"A person that calls in may be calling in for something  they feel is 
insignificant, but for us it may be  information we've been waiting 
on for months and  months," Brown said. "It may be the one thing that 
cracks an investigation wide open for us."

- ---

[sidebar]

The Lancaster Police Department and Prevention Works for a Drug Free 
Fairfield County will host two neighborhood meetings to tackle heroin 
and prescription drug use in Lancaster.

What: First Neighborhood Meeting

Where: West After School Center, 620 Garfield Ave., Lancaster

When: 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday

What: Second Neighborhood Meeting

Where: Maywood Mission Church, 1029 S. Broad St., Lancaster

When: 7 to 8 p.m. June 9
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom