HEROIN STILL A PROBLEM IN WABASH

WABASH - Law enforcement officials in Wabash County are battling an
unusually high incidence of heroin use, an addiction once deemed an
urban problem that experts say is being fed by trafficking from the
Chicago area.

The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reported about the situation in its
Sunday edition. The Wabash Plain Dealer has been reporting about the
ongoing problem for at least two years. As many as 20 people have
regularly traveled to Chicago, where they have bought enough heroin
to supply their own consumption plus some extra to sell back home to
cover their travel costs, Wabash Police Chief Charles Smith said.

"We're very fortunate that somebody from Wabash hasn't ended up dead
in the streets in Chicago," Smith said. While other counties in
northeast Indiana have not reported big increases in heroin use,
members of the Wabash Drug Task Force say the county has a
significantly high number of heroin users. That position is supported
by officials at the Center for Behavioral Health, a Fort Wayne clinic
that specializes in treating people addicted to heroin and other opiates.

Vicki Stephenson, the center's clinical director, said Wabash County
addicts began arriving at the center about five years ago. Although
the county about 30 miles southwest of Fort Wayne has a relatively
small population of 35,000, it provides as much as 15 percent of the
clientele for the center, which draws from throughout northeastern
Indiana. Last March, after clinic staff learned of an overdose death
in Wabash County, they sought a meeting with local officials
including Smith, members of the task force, Sheriff Leroy Striker and
Wabash Mayor Robert Vanlandingham.

Members of the task force already knew about heroin's growing
popularity. By last year, most of its caseload had shifted to heroin
from other popular street drugs such as methamphetamine, cocaine,
marijuana and prescription pills.

Wabash police are unsure why the drug has become so popular,
especially with surrounding counties seeing little or no increase in
heroin use. Stephenson said it might be linked to heroin's increasing
purity and decreasing price. Addicts can buy a foil package of heroin
for about $40, while an 80-milligram OxyContin pill costs twice as much.

"Based on what we hear and read, it's being marketed to younger
people," Stephenson said.

Smith said most Wabash County heroin users range in age from about 18 to 30.

Wabash County Prosecutor William Hartley said a higher number of
arrests has led to the perception that Wabash has a heroin problem,
when it might not be any worse than heroin use elsewhere.

"I think that, for Wabash County specifically, we have an active drug
task force, so there are a lot more arrests in the past couple years
than there have been in the past," Hartley said.

Police in neighboring Kosciusko and Huntington counties, however,
said they haven't seen evidence of any significant heroin use in
their counties.

Mayor Vanlandingham believes the keys to overcoming the county's drug
issues are communication and education.

"We all need to work together," Vanlandingham said.

If you suspect drug action in your neighborhood, contact one of the
following police agencies:

Wabash Police Department: 563-1111

Wabash County Sheriff's Department: 563-8891

North Manchester Police Department: 982-8555

LaFontaine Town Marshal 981-2331