ANTI-DRUG RALLY HOPES TO SEND CLEAR MESSAGE - NOT IN OUR TOWN

Help rehabilitate users and kick out the pushers is the theme for an
anti-heroin rally planned for 7 p.m. June 16 at Riverfront Park.

Rally organizer and Kittanning resident Frank Soloski told borough
council Monday that the heroin problem in Kittanning and surrounding
areas is simply out of control and that it is time for residents to
take positive action. Soloski asked council for permission to use the
John P. Murtha Amphitheater in the southern portion of Riverfront Park
to hold the rally.

Soloski said that because of its high visibility, the amphitheater is
the ideal location to send a clear message to heroin dealers to get
out of town and to let them know that residents are not afraid of
them. Soloski said he intends to invite public officials, including
the district attorney and chief of police, to attend and support the
rally.

Soloski said that in addition to several recent cases of drug
overdoses affecting area residents, he learned that some heroin
dealers are giving "free samples" of their product to young people,
some of whom are in middle school grades.

District Attorney Scott Andreassi said Tuesday that heroin samples are
being provided at "low cost" to new users. He said the average price
of a small bag of heroin, enough for one "high," is about $10.

Local attorney and Republican candidate for the district attorney's
office Brad Hellein said he will also support the rally and added that
parents need to be informed about heroin and its availability to their
children.

At least part of the problem in Kittanning might be attributed to
anti-drug efforts in other Valley towns, police said.

Kittanning Police Chief Edward Cassesse said his department is
arresting and hearing more about dealers from New Kensington and
Pittsburgh. Both of those areas have long-standing state-funded Weed
and Seed anti-crime initiatives. The program includes saturation
patrols by state and local police that sweep through neighborhoods and
seek to drive drug dealers and other criminals out. The patrols often
use helicopters that hover over the sweep area, panning powerful
search lights throughout the neighborhood.

Critics charge the program does little more than move the drug dealers
to nearby towns.

New Kensington Police Chief Chuck Korman said some of the alleged
dealers indeed have moved from parts of New Kensington and Arnold
where the Weed and Seed zone was established three years ago.

"Some have left. They haven't gone far, though," Korman
said.

Korman said he knows some alleged dealers relocated across the
Tarentum Bridge into Allegheny County.

Arnold Police Chief Joe Doutt said dealers don't always
leave.

"We put some in jail and some said they would not come back. Others
were rearrested in the Flats" section of Arnold, he said.

Soloski said the June 16 event will not be limited to merely an
informational meeting.

"We will conduct a march through the community," he said. "We're going
to walk through some areas of suspected drug activity. We're not going
to harass anyone or pin-point specific locations, but we are going to
let the heroin dealers know we're here and we mean to run them out of
our community. Nothing but good can come from this."

The Rev. Paul Rihel, pastor of the First Church of God, Kittanning,
said he will encourage the church's youth group to participate in the
rally and the march.

"I encourage families to do whatever is necessary to get their loved
one help, even if it means turning them over to the police. We have to
realize that drug dealers are predators. This is our problem as a
community and our hospital and jail can attest to that. We need to
come together to make sure that the dealer's product no longer has a
market here. This rally will be a big step toward that goal."

Soloski said he is willing to speak to church and civic groups about
heroin addiction and he encouraged people living anywhere in the
county to attend the rally. In the event of rain, an alternative
indoor meeting location will be announced.

Contributing: Staff writer Chuck Biedka.