Pubdate: Mon, 21 Aug 2006
Source: Plain Dealer, The (Wabash IN)
Copyright: 2006 Wabash Plain Dealer
Contact:  http://www.wabashplaindealer.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4212
Author: The Associated Press
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)

HEROIN STILL A PROBLEM IN WABASH

WABASH - Law enforcement officials in 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.

The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reported about the situation in its 
Sunday edition. The Wabash Plain Dealer has been reporting about the 
ongoing problem for at least two years. 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 said.

"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.

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If you suspect drug action in your neighborhood, contact one of the 
following police agencies:

Wabash Police Department: 563-1111

Wabash County Sheriff's Department: 563-8891

North Manchester Police Department: 982-8555

LaFontaine Town Marshal 981-2331