Smackdown on heroin abuse gathers momentum in Valley

Though it’s too early to declare victory in the war on heroin abuse raging across Ohio and the Mahoning Valley, successful offensives on key battlefronts recently illustrate that those fighting the insipid epidemic are gaining ground.

In law-enforcement, public-health and legislative camps, recent conquests prove once again the value of attacking heroin addiction from multiple angles among multiple agencies using maximum cooperation.

Local, state and federal law enforcers scored the most significant breakthrough last week when 61 people were indicted over two days on criminal charges stemming from heroin dealing and use in Youngstown.

With the Mahoning Valley Law Enforcement Task Force leading the way, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. marshals, the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office, city police and the Mahoning County prosecutor’s office swooped down to block heroin pipelines originating in New York City and Georgia.

Their cooperation, professionalism and hard work merit praise and support. Many more indictments are expected over the next few weeks from the same exemplary 16-month investigation.

Bob Bolzano, leader of the Youngstown DEA office, said the two sets of indictments prove that heroin continues to plague the Youngstown area. “It’s a fairly significant problem,” Bolzano said.

That’s putting it mildly. In the state and Valley, heroin abuse continues to increase at meteoric rates. According to the Ohio Department of Health, deaths from unintentional drug overdoses have increased 366 percent between 2000 and 2012. In recent years, the illicit drug of choice has been heroin, better known as smack and other code names by its dealers who profit from it and its users who die from it.

That’s why choking off the supply of heroin through aggressive apprehension and prosecution of dealers and users remains of paramount importance.

MORE TREATMENT NEEDED

But other tactics in this multi-pronged offensive are equally critical. Prime among them is treatment for addicts to lessen dependency and demand for the drug. The 37 people indicted by a county grand jury on heroin charges last week are largely users who will likely receive mandatory treatment and rehabilitation as part of their punishment though the county’s successful drug-court program.

Elsewhere, police departments in Boardman and Austintown and Mahoning County deputy sheriffs received training last week on the use of naloxone, better known by its trade name Narcan. The drug reverses effects of heroin overdoses by blocking its adverse impact on the brain and by restoring breathing.

The Ohio Department of Health has called Narcan the best antitode and lifesaver for opioid abuse. State legislators listened and last spring adopted legislation for its expanded use by police and the public. As a result, the Trumbull County Board of Health will early next year begin distributing Narcan kits to those closest to addicts to increase its timely administration and its potential for success.

In yet another heroin battlefront on Capitol Hill, two congressmen from the Valley, U.S. Reps. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th, and David Joyce of Russell, R-14th, last week introduced a bill to reinforce the heroin fight in Ohio and nationwide.