Record 2015 indictments point to need for battling heroin use on many fronts

One tangible barometer of the direct link between drug abuse and criminal activity in the Mahoning Valley can be gleaned from the year-end tally of criminal indictments in Trumbull County.

In 2015, prosecutors presented a record 1,037 cases to grand juries, nearly half of which were tied to illicit drug use and sales, according to Trumbull Prosecutor Dennis Watkins in his office’s year-end report.

It is indeed disturbing to find that for the first time in history, the number of indictments in the county surpassed 1,000 for one calendar year. Even more disturbing, however, is that the percentage of those tied to drug crimes has increased dramatically from 39 percent to 49 percent of all crimes in the span of one short year. Not surprisingly, Trumbull County was on course to log its largest casualty toll in history of overdose deaths from heroin and other illicit drugs last year.

Those sobering statistics serve as a reality check on the scourge of drug addiction in the Valley and on the need for law enforcement, the criminal justice system and the social-service network to remain steadfast in their fight to lessen the scope of the plague.

The data are particularly disturbing when one considers that violent crime and property crime have been dropping in the state and nation. Even more disturbing is the subtext behind those raw numbers that illustrates the depths to which hard-core sellers and users will stoop to get their fix. It translates into armed robberies of store owners, brutal attacks against the elderly and even ghoulish sex crimes against children.

LONGER PRISON TERMS?

Some, like Watkins, argue that the criminal justice system has gone too far in the direction of leniency for the roaches who sell heroin on the streets. Early in his four-decade long career, he said local dealers would get sentences of 20 to 40 years in prison for selling small amounts of heroin. Today, many are likely to get off with mere probation.

Others, such as Trumbull County Common Pleas Court Judge Ronald Rice, argue that more attention and funding should be channeled toward education and programs to solidify parenting skills to lead young people away from a path of drug dependence.

The full solution likely involves a combination of the two – stiff sentencing for those repeatedly convicted of dealing heroin and other deadly illicit drugs along with robust strengthening of education, awareness, counseling and treatment programs for users.

On a positive note, the record level of indictments last year indicates that local, state and federal law-enforcement and drug-control agencies acted aggressively to move more criminal users and pushers off the streets and into prisons and treatment programs. As the drug epidemic shows few signs of waning in 2016, it is imperative that such vigilance advance with added vigor.