EDITOR’S NOTE — “Rock the Difference for Heroin Awareness” is a community event being held at the Shelby County Fairgrounds on Saturday, May 7. This is one in a series of stories that will look into heroin use in Sidney and Shelby County leading up to the event. More information can be found on the event’s Facebook page, or by calling 937-622-8859.
SIDNEY — Is heroin a problem in our community?
Sidney Police Chief Will Balling was hesitant to say yes, but agreed it is a problem in most areas. Shelby County Sheriff John Lenhart said it has definitely become popular in the last three to four years. They agreed it’s because of how cheap it has become.
People are getting hooked on pain killers and then switching over to heroin because it is cheaper or they simply can’t gain access to the pain killers anymore, they said.
“The stats are terrible. We have more people who die from heroin deaths in this county, in this state, in this nation, than traffic fatalities,” Lenhart said.
Shelby County ranks in the middle of Ohio on heroin deaths and overdoses, Balling said, so we’re not the worst, by far.
In 2015 the Sidney Fire and EMS used Narcan, an opiate antidote, around 80 times for overdoses and there were five heroin overdose deaths in the city of Sidney.
According to data released in March by the Ohio Department of Health, 42 people died from drug overdoses in Shelby County from 2009 to 2014. The data shows a rise in overdose deaths over the past five years. The county in Ohio with the most overdose deaths in that time period was Cuyahoga, with 1,255 deaths.
While the number of drug deaths rises, and the use of Narcan, the number of people incarcerated in the Shelby County Jail for drug offenses has declined. The attached graph shows those numbers.
“One thing to think about when looking at the stats is this, most heroin users are committing crimes associated with their use, such as thefts, burglaries and other related crimes,” Shelby County Chief Deputy Jim Frye said.
In fact, every theft offense committed is related to drug use, said Lenhart. “People who are hooked on heroin steal everything they can steal. From relatives, family and friends, then neighbors, then you and I.”
About 80 people were charged in connection with heroin in 2015, according to Balling. While people are arrested and charged nearly daily for theft and other related crimes.
Balling and Lenhart say there are several layers to combating heroin and drug use. They discussed education, prevention, enforcement, and treatment.
“We have to teach people not to try it. People can’t just try it once or twice like other drugs, it is that addictive,” Balling said. “We have partnered with the hospital and Samaritan Works to teach people the signs of drugs use, so they can get help. We are getting info to local business to to they can know the signs of an employee using.”
A task force comprising of the sheriff, Shelby County Juvenile Judge William Zimmerman and Prosecuting Attorney Timothy Sell have been going into area schools to teach students about heroin.
Their thought is if this generation could just say “NO”, then drugs sales and activity might begin to dry up in the area.
The prevention aspect comes in with keeping the drugs from getting to Sidney. Heroin is not being manufactured in the area, and it’s not being dealt in large quantities in the area. According to Balling, people are getting up in the morning, driving down to Dayton, buying 10 to 20 capsules, coming back to Sidney, selling half and using half, then driving back to Dayton in the evening and getting more. There isn’t a large amount of heroin just sitting in the county, Balling said.
Ohio State Highway Patrol Officers are working to stop these people on Interstate 75 before they get into the city and county, Balling said.
The Sidney Police Department is also trying to be proactive instead of reactive. They are working on making a difference to prevent someone overdosing. The officers are trying to make personal connections with the citizens, Balling said. They are trying to make a difference in people’s lives by getting them into rehab, and preventing the drug abuse from happening.
Law enforcement is working to have a strong stance on people who overdose, as well as the dealers.
“When I first started my stance was just to arrest the dealers, and get the users help. Now I believe we should arrest every one of them. If we don’t get them in the court system, get them in the jail and dried out, they will kill themselves,” Lenhart said.
The treatment comes in primarily in the jail, with the different work-release and counseling services that are offered.
“If we arrest someone, dry them out. And they go straight back into the environment they were in, they’ll be using heroin the next day. You have to dry them out, then there has to be a period of counseling and then a job or it doesn’t work,” Lenhart said.
Lenhart thinks they are far ahead of other entities in the area on prevention and treatment, and a big reason is because of the jail space. “If you don’t have the jail space, you can’t dry them out,” he said.
With all these positive things local law enforcement are trying to do in combating heroin, there is stuff working against them.
“We’re running on the same budget as in 2001. We have the same amount of deputies on the road as when I was sheriff before in 1994. It is very difficult to fight a real war, if there is such a war, on heroin,” Lenhart said.
