ADDICT: 'YOU KNOW IT'S ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE AND WORSE'

Editor's note: In the first half of a two-day series, the
Standard-Speaker examined how drugs affect crime in Hazleton by
profiling an individual who used and sold illegal drugs. Today's
installment profiles two local recovering addicts who were recently
involved in the judicial system. Their names have been changed to
protect their identities.

As a high school cheerleader, business owner, college graduate and
mother of two, Carol stayed away from drugs.

It wasn't until emotional and physical abuse from her husband changed that.

Carol, a Hazleton native recovering from heroin addiction, first used
cocaine to cope with her husband's infidelity, which became apparent
when he transmitted a sexually transmitted infection to her.

At age 28, she divorced. In her early 30s, she tried heroin after she
lost custody of her children. That use eventually turned into a habit
that led to the loss of her business and home.

In 1999, her habit was costing her $300 a day. She regularly
shoplifted at retail stores and supermarkets for drug money because
she couldn't afford to pay for basic living expenses.

"You're scared when you wake up. You're sick, and you know it's only
going to get worse and worse," she said.

"Once you use heroin, your body gets violently ill after three days,
and the only way to cure it is to do (heroin) again," she said,
recalling that her withdrawal symptoms sometimes included spasms,
diarrhea or seizures.

"Joseph"

As a native of Tamaqua, Joseph became involved in dealing drugs with
a small network of friends.

His habit started from recreational use in his 20s to daily addiction
in his 30s. He began taking LSD, a stimulant with hallucinogenic
effects, at concerts while he followed the Grateful Dead tour for
seven years, starting in 1988.

While following tours, Joseph would work seasonally. His jobs
included electronics work, using his college degree, but eventually
he incorporated LSD sales into his T-shirt and beverage stands.

Around Jerry Garcia's death in 1995, Joseph tried heroin.

Joseph briefly owned an electronics business in Ohio and lived with a
girlfriend before she was imprisoned for drug-related activity, which
contributed stress to the development of his habit.

He returned to Pennsylvania in the late 90s, living in Reading.
During that time he began spending most of his paycheck on drugs.
That year, he was arrested for LSD possession with intent to deliver
and served a four-month sentence in county prison, an offense he
repeated in 2001 that resulted in a six-month sentence.

During that time, his addiction demanded 20 bags of heroin every two
to three days. He afforded the habit through selling LSD for $5 a
hit. He would buy a tablet the size of a playing card for $100 --
enough for 100 hits.

"In the town of Tamaqua, you can sell about 200 hits per week for a
profit of about $800," he said.

Joseph's network in Tamaqua included about a dozen users. Each member
roughly had a corner of the market with a particular drug that they
sold or traded.

He would sometimes make drug runs to Philadelphia or other large
cities in Pennsylvania to get cheaper heroin, and his brushes with
the law were mainly traffic citations. Since 1999, though, his habit
has cost him three years in jail and two years of addiction.
Throughout that time, he has intermittently bounced back to being
clean and has recovered at halfway houses and rehabilitation clinics.

"Every time you get out of jail, you were clean for about a year," he
said. "It's a spiraling-down effect." Part of his recovery included
Narcotics Anonymous meetings, where he saw others fall back to old
habits like he did. "People disappear after a year, but you know
where they are."

Last April, Joseph was transitioning between clinics on his own. He
checked out of a treatment program in Allenwood in late April, and he
had arranged to check into another center in Philadelphia about a week later.

But before he re-entered therapy once again, he was arrested and held
at $25,000 bail for charges brought on by his family that include
alleged theft and forgery of checks.

Drug networks

Experts in the area estimate that 90 percent of all criminal activity
in the area is drug-related. Those crimes are typically led by
addicts whose habits often leave them homeless or on the verge of
poverty, affecting family members, local residents and various
businesses on a daily basis.

"Once the body gets addicted, it's very hard to kick. It's a matter
of survival," said Ed Pane, president and chief executive officer of
Serento Gardens, a substance abuse treatment program in Hazleton that
loses more than nine out of every 10 patients back to heroin. Pane
calls this recidivism rate "astoundingly high."

To help alleviate these relapse rates, plans for an opiate treatment
program are currently being pursued by Discovery House, a Rhode
Island based company with clinics across the country.

"We've been committed to Hazleton for a good year now, and we think
we found a site that will add to the community," said Rob Kornacki,
director of development. "People understand that treatment is a good
thing and it's a matter of finding the right spot." The company has
sought to secure a location for the center at 570 W. Broad St., its
third attempt in the city.

Supporting bad habits

Without a steady intake, heroin addicts may experience convulsions,
insomnia or seizures among other symptoms for 48 to 72 hours after
their last use. These symptoms typically subside after a week, but
many addicts stabilize themselves by returning to the drug.

"After that first use of heroin, it's like their first love. They'll
give up anything to try and recreate that initial high," said Al
Ciliberto, a case worker at Serento Gardens.

That characterization was echoed during a recent Hazleton meeting for
Narcotics Anonymous, a community-based organization with chapters
worldwide, when one member said his drugs of choice were "more" and
"feel-good."

"From the time they get up to the time they go to sleep, they're just
trying to support that habit," said Cpl. Josh Winters, an officer
with the Sugarloaf Police Department. "Without a job, that's a lot of money."

For many addicts whose habits resulted in their homelessness, Winters
says the only thing they own is a house eviction.

Vicious cycle

Carol served time in out-of-state prisons for four years around the
turn of the century. In the last eight years, she's been in
rehabilitation centers three times. In 2004, after multiple relapses,
she became homeless.

For the past few years, she's been living out-of-state and working
full-time in an area where she attended her first clinic. Outside of
Hazleton, she said there are more opportunities and less stigma
associated with her past habits.

"It's such a vicious cycle," she said. "People who you were involved
with will try and keep you sick."

Carol, now in her early 40s, recalled her story while sitting in the
Luzerne County Correction facility in a prison uniform. She'd just
left a preliminary hearing on charges stemming from layers of thefts in 2007.

Last summer, an officer picked up Carol and some friends at a
supermarket. He inspected their truck to find numerous articles of
clothing with price tags still attached, a charge that she said did
not involve her.

Authorities subsequently put a warrant out for her arrest, which
brought her across state lines, back to Pennsylvania. Shortly after,
a district judge waived all charges.

Today

Carol and Joseph have currently been clean, but both sought help
through treatment centers outside the area.

"There's need there currently, but the problem is they're driving
anytime between 60 and 90 minutes to get treatment outside of the
area," Kornacki said. Recovering addicts profiled by the
Standard-Speaker checked into inpatient services in Reading and
Allenwood. The closest treatment center in the area for addicts
seeking methadone treatment is Plains Township.

Opiate treatment programs, commonly referred to as methadone clinics,
primarily allow users to gradually wane off the physical and chemical
dependence of hard drugs with assisted medicine.

Establishing a clinic in the area, Kornacki says, gives recovering
addicts more access, alleviates the burden of family members and
makes the program compatible with work schedules. These programs
thereby help reduce an addict's dependence on illicit drugs and
reinstate their productivity to the community, he said.

"All of the evidence speaks to treating people closer to their area," he said.