Pubdate: Sun, 29 Mar 2015
Source: Journal-News (Hamilton, OH)
Copyright: 2015 Cox Ohio Publishing
Contact:   http://www.journal-news.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/915
Author: Lauren Pack

EDUCATING YOUTH KEY TO SLOWING HEROIN EPIDEMIC

BUTLER COUNTY - Tony Couch knows he could have been one of the 49
people who died of a heroin overdose in Butler County last year.

Couch, 29, a Hamilton High School graduate, was arrested for
shoplifting in 2011, a crime he says he committed to support his
heroin habit. He was nabbed by police boosting laundry detergent, a
hot item to trade for the illegal opiate. Butler County Area II Judge
Kevin McDonough sent Couch to treatment and he hasn't used since.

Today, Couch has changed his circle of friends and even distances
himself from relatives who are also addicted. For him Sojourner
Recovery Services worked, but it is a constant struggle to stay clean.

"That's what it takes, you have to get away from the old friends and
people who are still using," Couch said.

According to the Butler County Coroner's Office, in the first three
months of 2015, five deaths have been attributed to heroin overdose,
four to a overdose of heroin and fentanyl (a strong painkiller) and 36
overdose deaths that are suspected to be from heroin, but have not yet
been ruled on.

Couch said educating young people about the effects of heroin is a key
to stopping its wildfire-like spread in the region.

"They need to know it is not like drinking or smoking weed. It will
kill you," Couch said. "And you have been be honest about it."

Couch has joined forces with Candy Murray Abbott and Tammie Norris,
both mothers to young adults who are recovering heroin addicts. The
women founded Heroin Control and became very vocal about the drug's
stronghold on the area when they held a 2013 rally in front of the
Government Services Center on High Street in Hamilton. Another heroin
awareness rally is scheduled for 3 p.m. April 20 at the same location.

The women have remained vocal and involved with the fight, including
advocating for funding of the opiate-blocking drug Vivitrol and honest
education about heroin.

"Treatment is what has to happen for those already addicted," Abbott
said. "But I believe what has to happen to stop the problem is
education in schools."

She said she will talk to any group and any school, which is a move
both Sheriff Richard Jones and Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser
have also taken.

"There is such a stigma about heroin. We talk to our children about
other things that will harm them, but not heroin," Abbott said. "They
have to know people are dying from it."

Law enforcement on the front lines agree that educating children so
they never use is key because dealers are not shy about getting the
drug into their hands.

Police chiefs in Middletown and Hamilton say the solution to the
heroin scourge has both medical and criminal aspects.

"I believe this is a community issue and not simply a law enforcement
problem," said Hamilton Police Chief Craig Bucheit. "Because this
problem is so large and so pervasive it requires a comprehensive and
community wide solution."

That solution, he said, involves education, prevention, counseling and
treatment as well as enforcement.

Middletown Police Chief Rodney Muterspaw echoed that
idea.

"It takes everyone putting their heads together aE& police, hospitals,
churches," Muterspaw said, noting that unlike other drugs, heroin's
make up is so addictive that people don't care about overdosing.

In 1993, Muterspaw was a detective in the department's Special
Operations Unit and made an arrest and seized heroin.

"I didn't know what it was," Muterspaw said, noting that at the at
time police were fighting cocaine and crack cocaine.

"Now it is rare to have anyone arrested with any drug other than
heroin," he said.

The effect of the drug on families and the community is catastrophic,
because it also fuels other crime. Addicts will do just about anything
to fund their habit.

Hamilton Municipal Court Judge Dan Gattermeyer said heroin and the
crimes it fuels, including robbery, theft and breaking and entering,
account for a "gigantic" portion of his case load.

"I'd say it is about 70 percent," Gattermeyer said. The judge said it
is "really difficult to beat without medication, and we direct people
to treatment. Vivitrol has been successful."

The judge said it is a little be different mindset with heroin because
it is so addictive. Treatment, not jail, is often the answer, if the
person is willing.

"But the people who are just selling, making money off other people's
misery, those are the ones who deserve everything they get,"
Gattermeyer said.

Middletown Municipal Court Judge Mark W. Wall agrees treatment is
needed, but plans to stop the source also need some teeth.

"The federal government has got to get serious about doing something
about border security and going after the cartels. It is coming from
Mexico," Wall said. "We have got to get aggressive with stopping the
supply and getting people treatment."

He noted his court has also had success with ordering Vivitrol
treatment, but it only works if the person is willing. Often it is
enough to get them clean so they can experience a life without addiction.

"Loosing 47 people in a year is uncalled for and unacceptable," Wall
said. "If we had 47 cases of measles in a year, we would make national
news and everyone would be responding to stop it."

Sgt. Mike Hackney, who leads the Butler County Sheriff's Office
regional narcotics unit, agreed tightening the border "is going to be
a biggie" in stopping the heroin supply.

Hackney said heroin is more prevalent than any drug he has seen in his
career. The drug of the 1960s and '70s had a resurgence when people
abused opiate pain pills that eventually became better regulated and
more expensive.

"What is bad for us is heroin is cheap," Hackney said. "The price is
remaining low so a lot of people can afford it." He added that the
addiction is so strong users will actually seek out a dealer when they
learn someone overdosed on his heroin.

"They are not thinking about dying or don't care," Hackney
said.

Last month, U.S. Sen Rob Portman introduced the Comprehensive
Addiction and Recovery Act of 2015 the would provide a series of
incentives and resources designed to encourage states and local
communities to pursue a full array of proven strategies to combat
heroin addiction.

Through Portman's role on the Homeland Security Committee, he plans to
thoroughly review any federal proposals designed to strengthen border
security to stop harmful drugs from entering the country.

"In order to get a handle on the heroin epidemic in our community, we
must get beyond a top-down, one-size-fits-all approach," Portman said.
"To prevent drug abuse and better help the tens of thousands of
Ohioans struggling with addiction, we need a comprehensive strategy
that starts from the bottom up. I've introduced legislation that
builds on proven methods to enable law enforcement to respond to this
epidemic and supports long-term recovery by connecting prevention and
education efforts with treatment programs."

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown added: "Communities across Ohio have seen the
devastating effects of opioid and heroin addiction, which has become
one of our nation's most challenging public health issues. More needs
to be done to combat the rise of opiate abuse in Ohio and across the
country. I have written to both the Department of Justice and the
Department of Health and Human Services on this issue, urging the
Administration to prioritize the prescription opioid and heroin
epidemic and confront it head on. Last year, at Samaritan Behavioral
Health in Dayton, I announced my support of legislation to increase
the number of opioid addiction treatment providers available and allow
providers with a proven track record of success to treat more patients."
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MAP posted-by: Matt