Pubdate: Sun, 20 Aug 2006
Source: Journal Gazette, The (IN)
Copyright: 2006 The Journal Gazette
Contact:  http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/908
Author: Associated Press
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone)

WABASH AUTHORITIES BATTLING HIGH HEROIN USE

WABASH, Ind. - Law enforcement officials in rural Wabash County are 
battling an unusually high incidence of heroin use, an addiction once 
deemed an urban problem that experts say is being fed by trafficking 
from the Chicago area.

As many as 20 people have regularly traveled to Chicago, where they 
have bought enough heroin to supply their own consumption plus some 
extra to sell back home to cover their travel costs, Wabash Police 
Chief Charles Smith told The Journal Gazette of Fort Wayne.

"We're very fortunate that somebody from Wabash hasn't ended up dead 
in the streets in Chicago," Smith said.

While other counties in northeast Indiana have not reported big 
increases in heroin use, members of the Wabash Drug Task Force say 
the county has a significantly high number of heroin users. That 
position is supported by officials at the Center for Behavioral 
Health, a Fort Wayne clinic that specializes in treating people 
addicted to heroin and other opiates.

Vicki Stephenson, the center's clinical director, said Wabash County 
addicts began arriving at the center about five years ago. Although 
the county about 30 miles southwest of Fort Wayne has a relatively 
small population of 35,000, it provides as much as 15 percent of the 
clientele for the center, which draws from throughout northeastern Indiana.

Last March, after clinic staff learned of an overdose death in Wabash 
County, they sought a meeting with local officials including Smith, 
members of the task force, Sheriff Leroy Striker and Wabash Mayor 
Robert Vanlandingham.

Members of the task force already knew about heroin's growing 
popularity. By last year, most of its caseload had shifted to heroin 
from other popular street drugs such as methamphetamine, cocaine, 
marijuana and prescription pills.

Wabash police are unsure why the drug has become so popular, 
especially with surrounding counties seeing little or no increase in 
heroin use. Stephenson said it might be linked to heroin's increasing 
purity and decreasing price. Addicts can buy a foil package of heroin 
for about $40, while an 80-milligram OxyContin pill costs twice as much.

"Based on what we hear and read, it's being marketed to younger 
people," Stephenson said.

Smith said most Wabash County heroin users range in age from about 18 to 30.

Wabash County Prosecutor William Hartley said a higher number of 
arrests has led to the perception that Wabash has a heroin problem, 
when it might not be any worse than heroin use elsewhere.

"I think that, for Wabash County specifically, we have an active drug 
task force, so there are a lot more arrests in the past couple years 
than there have been in the past," Hartley said.

Police in neighboring Kosciusko and Huntington counties, however, 
said they haven't seen evidence of any significant heroin use in 
their counties.

Mayor Vanlandingham believes the keys to overcoming the county's drug 
issues are communication and education.

"We all need to work together," Vanlandingham said.