DRUG PROBLEMS STILL HAMMER U.S.

Cocaine poses the "most significant drug threat" in a five-state area
that includes Pennsylvania, while heroin also remains a major problem,
a new federal report has found.

At the same time, pharmaceutical abuse is rising and methadone-related
overdoses are increasing in the region, the 2008 National Drug Threat
Assessment says.

The document, produced by the Johnstown-based National Drug
Intelligence Center, does not have any specific information on Cambria
or Somerset counties.

Local drug trends vary, although authorities agree with many of the
study's conclusions. And they say an unprecedented level of in-school
drug education is just as important as enforcement in the battle
against abuse.

"(Schools) are on the front lines with us, hand-in-hand, trying to
save these kids," said Detective Kevin Price, Cambria County Drug Task
Force supervisor.

The NDIC's annual assessment is an in-depth look at drug trafficking
and abuse nationwide. Data is culled from federal, state and local
law-enforcement agencies as well as from public-health officials.

In the report, Pennsylvania is included in the Mid-Atlantic Region,
which also includes Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and
Washington, D.C.

Some key conclusions for the Mid-Atlantic Region are mirrored locally,
while others are not:

The report says cocaine poses bigger problems than heroin in the
region.

Officials here say there is no doubt that cocaine continues to haunt
Cambria and Somerset counties.

That was evidenced most recently by charges filed against eight people
described as "high-level" cocaine dealers in Johnstown and two
suburban communities.

"Cocaine has been a big problem here, especially crack cocaine," said
Johnstown police Detective Sgt. Tom Owens.

But Owens and Randy Cox, Somerset Borough police chief, also said
heroin remains more prominent than coke.

"We are looking at heroin as still the main criminal's drug of
choice," Cox said.

The Mid-Atlantic's methamphetamine threat is "moderate but has
increased," the NDIC says.

Cox agreed, reporting a "slight increase" in meth usage in
Somerset.

"We're definitely seeing more than we did a year ago," he
said.

On the whole, methamphetamine has not yet caused major problems in
this area. However, it may be creeping closer: The NDIC report notes
increased availability and abuse in Pennsylvania's northwestern
counties and the Pocono region.

"We're not naive enough to think that it's not here in Cambria
County," Price said. "Are we taking steps to prevent it? Yes, we are."

NDIC says marijuana demand remains high in the Mid-Atlantic
Region, bucking a trend of declining national demand for the drug.

"Marijuana is abused by every ethnic, age and socioeconomic group,"
the assessment says.

Local officers also see plenty of pot, especially among
adolescents.

"There's a lot of marijuana sales and use in our area," Owens said.
"For the most part, it's a gateway drug," leading users to then try
other narcotics.

Pharmaceutical abuse is becoming a bigger concern among teenagers
and young adults, the Mid-Atlantic assessment says.

Officials in Cambria and Somerset acknowledge a continuing problem
with diversion and abuse of prescription painkillers, though most do
not report any alarming increases relating to adolescents.

This is yet another area, some say, where improved educational
programs may pay off.

NDIC's national assessment says parents currently are "less likely to
talk to their children about the dangers of prescription-drug abuse
than they are about heroin, cocaine, crack, MDMA (ecstasy), marijuana
or alcohol abuse."

Methadone, a drug often prescribed to help heroin users overcome
their addiction, is being blamed for a rapidly rising number of deaths
and overdoses nationwide and in the Mid-Atlantic Region.

From 1999 to 2004, NDIC reports, fatal overdoses involving
methadone jumped 390 percent nationally. And that trend likely has
continued in the past few years as the availability of legitimate,
prescribed methadone has increased greatly, officials said.

"Some individuals may be seeking out the drug for abuse as it becomes
more widely available," NDIC officials wrote.

Methadone has made local headlines this year, with cops concerned that
motorists are causing crashes after receiving legal doses of the drug
at clinics.

Fatal methadone overdoses have doubled in the past year in Cambria
County, Coroner Dennis Kwiatkowski estimated. He noted that the drug
also can be prescribed as a painkiller.

"I don't know whether the doctors are writing more prescriptions for
it, and then it's getting out there in the public," Kwiatkowski said.

However, Somerset County Coroner Wallace Miller said he has seen no
increase in methadone-related overdoses.

"The biggest problem we have right now is multiple toxicity --
essentially, alcohol mixed with painkillers or some of these
antidepressants," Miller said.

In some cases, those who have overdosed do not even have toxic levels
of prescription drugs in their system. But when alcohol is combined
with those drugs, Miller said, "that's when you have a problem."