Community gathers to learn about heroin

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SIDNEY — Nearly 200 people filled the Holy Angels School Gymnasium Wednesday night to further the discussion on heroin.

Presenters of the community forum entitled Heroin: Threatening our Families, Executive Director of Samaritan Works Inc. (SWI) Jeremy Morris and Sidney Police Officer Mike McRill, also a SWI board member, broke down the issue of heroin to the community members who gathered.

“This is not just a local epidemic, but a deadly one that is plaguing the entire state of Ohio and across the nation. There is no community that is immune from the horrors of heroin,” Morris said. “Our communities do not fit a particular mold. This deadly epidemic has infiltrated our rural, suburban, and urban areas at an alarming rate.”

Heroin is a highly addictive drug. Basically when it’s injected into the body, what it does is cause an intense excitement or happiness, Morris said. It can be administered by smoking, snorting, or injecting. It suppresses the dopamine sensory pathways in the brain which creates a rush of euphoria, then it relaxes the entire body.

He went on to explain the different types of heroin, how it’s packaged, and what to look for if you suspect someone you know is using.

“The kind we see floating around the area here is called black tar heroin. You would also see brown powdered heroin. You’d see it in small capsules,” Morris said.

Signs of an addict could include burnt spoons, tiny bags, tan or white powered residue, dark sticky residue, small glass pipes, syringes, rubber tubing, and Q-tips.

Morris explained how Ohio is a big pathway for heroin. It has to go through Ohio to get to most destinations, no matter which way it’s traveling. Interstate 75 and Interstate 70 is a big interchange for drug trafficking.

“Right now Dayton has the cheapest rate for heroin anywhere in the state of Ohio,” Morris said. “I’m not exaggerating when I say this, but heroin is easier to get than water in the city streets. That is so scary.”

It’s so prevalent, in fact, dealers are offering testers, free capsules, to new residents, he said. People can get addicted to heroin so fast they just keep coming back and the dealer keeps making money. Addiction is both physical and psychological, and Morris said, it’s a disease and a choice. There are also different kinds of addicts; functional, homeless, and students.

“One of the biggest things we are up against in society right now is the stigma placed on users. Heroin does not discriminate. It has one motive, and that’s to destroy everything and anything in it’s path,” Morris said.

“I was talking with an addict the other day and he was telling me that the goal is to get as close to death as possible. The closer you are to death, the better the high,” McRill said. “And if you’re the dealer who’s got the hot stuff that can get us closest to death, that’s where he wants to buy. Even though it’s killing everyone else.”

One of the reasons heroin is so dangerous is because it’s mixed with other substances, when it’s packaged, like Fentanyl. The drug is more powerful than heroin, so when a typical user gets a batch with Fentanyl in it, or more than they’re used to, they might take too much and overdose.

In 2014, Ohio was second in the nation for overdose deaths. In 2015 the number came down, but Ohio is still in the top 10.

“Statics show that three people are dying a day, every single day in Ohio and when you add opiates or pain pills in the mix, we are losing six to seven additional people. Drug overdoses in Ohio have increased 419 percent in 10 years,” Morris said. “These are not just statistics these people are Ohioans, children of God, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters, and those dying are getting younger all the time.”

The Sidney Fire Department used Narcan, an opiate antidote, on 53 different people in 2015, 80 times. “That means we had a lot of repeat customers,” McRill said. He explained how Narcan is a drug that stops the opiate sensors in the brain, and essentially brings people back to life when they’ve overdosed. Last year the police department investigated six overdose deaths.

“So far in 2016, we’ve had four fatal overdoses and one more we are waiting for the toxicology reports to come back on. We have almost as many as 2015 and we’re not even halfway through the year,” McRill said.

“I can tell you, standing over someone who has overdosed and watching them turn blue, take almost their last breath … is a terrible thing,” McRill said. “When you’re watching it, it no longer matters whether that’s a rich person or a poor person. A person north of Russell Road, a person south of Russell Road. Whether they go to Holy Angels, or one of the other churches, or if they attend church at all. What color their skin is, nothing matters. I would give anybody Narcan at that point to save that person.”

Morris and McRill shared several resources with the crowed Wednesday night who’s main goal is to help people get clean and sober, including SWI which they both are involved in. SWI is a Christ-centered organization committed to sustained who life recovery for men and women affected by substance abuse. To learn more about their organization, visit www.samaritanworksinc.com.

A Nar-Anon Family Group meets weekly on Thursday’s at 7 p.m. at St. John’s Lutheran Church on Water Street in Sidney. Nar-Anon is a 12-step fellowship that offers a recovery program for those affected by someone’s addition to drugs. The only requirement to some is that there be a problem of addition in a relative or friend.

There are also several Facebook groups anyone is welcome to join, including TAP United and The Addicts Mom.

Executive Director of Samaritan Works Inc. Jeremy Morris, of Brookville, presents during a community forum, entitiled Heroin: Threatening our Families, at Holy Angels Catholic School Wednesday, May 11. Morris, along with Sidney Police Officer Mike McRill, spoke about what heroin is, what it does and how it’s affecting society. They also discussed Samaritan Works, which is drug and rehabilitation center in Sidney.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/47/2016/05/web1_SDN051316HeroinTalk.jpgExecutive Director of Samaritan Works Inc. Jeremy Morris, of Brookville, presents during a community forum, entitiled Heroin: Threatening our Families, at Holy Angels Catholic School Wednesday, May 11. Morris, along with Sidney Police Officer Mike McRill, spoke about what heroin is, what it does and how it’s affecting society. They also discussed Samaritan Works, which is drug and rehabilitation center in Sidney.

By Alexandra Newman

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Reach this writer at 937-538-4825; Follow the SDN on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @sidneydailynews

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