Pubdate: Sun, 01 Feb 2009 Source: York Daily Record (PA) Copyright: 2009 The York Daily Record Contact: http://www.ydr.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/512 Author: Katharine Harmon Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin) HANOVER-AREA GROUP PUTS FOCUS ON HEROIN What frustrates Pat Loss the most about heroin use in the Hanover area is the fact that most people deny there's a problem. Almost four years ago, Loss tried but couldn't get a heroin-awareness group going. Two years ago, she started again, and now the Awareness Group is scheduled to have its first town meeting in February. "I feel like we've wasted so much time," Loss said. "We could have made a dent a long time ago." In the past year, at least six people in the Hanover area have died from heroin-related overdoses. Adams County officials have counted at least three in the past six months, officials said. Police have said that drug-related crimes are on the rise. And police have been cracking down on heroin dealers -- including Operation Smackdown, which netted 19 arrests and got more than 20 grams of heroin off the streets last week. But for Loss, a mentor with the South Western School District, it's not enough. What's also needed, she said, is education. "People will never understand until it touches them personally," she said. They don't recognize that addiction is a disease and use terms such as "junkie" and "scum" to define addicts. "People think addiction takes over only certain people," she said. "It doesn't discriminate." The goal of the awareness group, which meets biweekly at the Hanover First Church of God, is to bring awareness and educate parents and children. The group's mission statement is to provide with respect and sensitivity educational programs that will increase public awareness and prevention to those who are impacted by substance abuse. The group's goals include getting into the school systems, hosting town meetings and making a pamphlet with information for parents and children. The pamphlet would include phone numbers to call for information and locations of hospital and other options. The growth of Loss's awareness group gives her hope that more people are realizing the severity of the issue. On the other hand, it's a sign that more people are personally affected by addiction. "If it (heroin) was like a fungus, people would want to know about it," she said. And while one woman and her awareness group can't change the way Hanover looks at the heroin problem, Loss said she's going to do this until the day she dies. "If you want to save lives, you've got to take strong measures," Loss said. IF YOU GO Who: the Awareness Group, law enforcement, the public What: Town meeting on drug use When: 6:30 p.m. Feb. 17 Where: Wellness Center, 400 York St., Hanover - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin