COLUMBIANA Officials notice rise in drug use

The county sees an increase in criminal charges despite a drop in population.
By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- Columbiana County's top law enforcement officials say they aren't surprised by statistics that show the county's drug problem is growing.
Court records compiled by The Vindicator show that:
UThe county has seen a 22-percent increase in all criminal cases from 1996 through 2005. The cases include felonies from common pleas court; misdemeanors handled in the county's municipal courts; and delinquency cases in county juvenile court, for which youths could face charges as adults. An official says 80 percent of those cases are drug related.
UThe county's population dropped 3.6 percent during the same period, an indication that more charges are being filed despite a smaller population. Recently released information from the U.S. Census Bureau says the county's population dropped to 110,928 people in 2005. The county's population had been above 111,0000 since 1996.
UProsecutor Robert Herron said the number of criminal charges filed in the county during 2005 -- some 3,702 cases -- is undoubtedly an all-time high.
"This is what we deal with day to day," Herron said.
He added that his office has a smaller staff and budget than it has in past years at a time when caseloads are increasing.
Fast cash equals crime
Sheriff David Smith said the increase in crimes came down to people wanting to "get cash fast for drug purchases."
The prosecutor has been talking publicly in an effort to raise awareness and address the problem. However, so far there's been no large community response, he said.
But heroin is now cheaper to buy in East Liverpool than Youngstown, authorities say, and the drug is making its way north through the county to Salem. So far, Herron said, there have not been as many drug-related shootings as in Youngstown.
But the Columbiana County Task Force arrested a Mahoning County man on drug charges in midafternoon last week on Salem's major north-south route. His bond was initially set at $1 million because authorities say he frequently was armed and threatened people.
Smith predicted that as drug use increases, there will be more violent crimes in the county.
The problems are linked
Herron estimates that 80 percent of all criminal cases are tied to chemical abuse, whether directly, such as drug possession, or indirectly, through theft or domestic violence charges. That indicates that 2,962 cases in 2005 were tied to drugs, as compared with 2,430 cases in 1996.
The federal National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which is linked to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said in December 2005 that "adults who were arrested in the past year for any serious offense were more likely to have used an illicit drug in the past year than those who were not arrested (60.1 vs. 13.6 percent)."
People don't realize there are other problems that stem from increased drug use, such as medical bills, strains on social service agencies and divorce, Herron and Smith said.
"The cost to our society is just staggering," Herron said.
The county's population drop is a result of young people's moving away to seek work or attend college and the deaths of the elderly.
Quality of life affected
Herron said the population drop means the county has "a less-skilled population, less people and less resources, which severely damages and directly impacts on our quality of life."
"The scope of [the drug problem] is just overwhelming," Herron said.
Smith said that young people here see and want the large homes and expensive cars of rock stars and athletes. They move away, he said, because they know they won't have that kind of life if they work in a local factory.
wilkinson@vindy.com