HEROIN PIERCES AREA'S RADAR

John Andrighetti never expected the word to crop up in a survey of seniors
in the Greater Latrobe School District.

But it did, like a haunting whisper -- heroin.

"We were shocked to hear it," said Andrighetti, the school district's high
school principal.

The drug wasn't even mentioned when the same confidential survey was done
of the same students two years earlier.

"The heroin use by percentage is quite small, but there were indications
that there was an increase in heroin use. We didn't see anything at all
(about heroin) when they were surveyed as sophomores," Andrighetti said.

And Latrobe isn't alone. Heroin is elsewhere in Westmoreland County,
according to law enforcement sources and others.

Tony Marcocci, a county detective for 23 years, said the drug's appearance
is much like that of cocaine and crack cocaine a few years ago.

"Overnight, it's just mushroomed here. We're finding it in a lot of
communities. I would say Greensburg has a definite heroin presence and ...
we're finding pockets in the Latrobe, Derry areas," he said.

The use of heroin is viewed by some as cool, neat, sweet. The drug doesn't
have the stigma it did back in the 1970s, when it was viewed as the choice
of hardcore addicts. Now it's the new drug of choice, even if it can be deadly.

"It's not looked down upon anymore," Marcocci said.

Several other factors are responsible for the rise. Heroin's price is down.
It also is available and highly addictive. It's easy to use, with many
snorting the drug rather than injecting it, at least initially.

"The thing we're trying to get across to people, it's a gateway drug. I
know quite a few people that have used OxyContin who have progressed to
heroin," Marcocci said, explaining that the other drugs, such as the
pain-killer OxyContin, "weren't working anymore and they jumped to heroin."

Even law enforcement unwittingly contributed to the rise of heroin. Police
so concentrated efforts on stopping other drugs, such as cocaine and crack
cocaine, that heroin invaded the area like a subtle virus, said Greensburg
police Chief Richard Baric.

"But I think we've seen a shift where law enforcement is focused on the
heroin, realizing it's an ongoing problem," he said.

Those who doubt the growth -- or the dangers -- of heroin only need look at
statistics, Baric said.

The Westmoreland County coroner's office shows 10 drug-related deaths, all
involving men, in the county since Jan. 1. Three involved heroin, which
appears as morphine in the bloodstream.

The results of three additional possible drug overdoses -- all women -- are
pending.

This year's 10 drug deaths are more than occurred in all of 1999, when
there were nine. And from 1992 through 2000, 45 people died from drug
overdoses in the county, or five deaths per year.

In 2001, 16 Westmoreland County deaths were attributed to drugs, including
one from heroin.

"The drug overdose numbers really tell the story in Westmoreland County.
There has been a significant increase in drug overdoses," Baric said.

The influence of heroin and related opiates also are reflected in state
figures for commitments to drug-treatment facilities in the county.
According to the state Department of Health, heroin/opiates have replaced
cocaine as the second most often cited reason for court-ordered or
voluntary commitments; alcohol remains a strong No. 1.

State figures also show that in Westmoreland County, heroin/opiates
resulted in 71 commitments between 1998 and 99; 75 placements between 1999
and 2000; and 137 commitments between 2000 and 2001.

Others in law enforcement are aware of the statistics. And they are trying
to do something.

"Yes, we are," Latrobe police Chief Charles Huska said of officers seeing
more heroin. "There's been deaths right around us."

Municipal and county police met with state police last month to discuss how
they could make a dent in the heroin flow into Westmoreland County.

"We're now, collectively, as a group, trying to identify the source of this
heroin and trying to slow the flow," Baric said. "We're obviously very
concerned."

Of particular worry is that the heroin in the county has been highly
concentrated.

"What's here, it's pretty dangerous stuff," said Jeannette police Chief
Carl Shifko. "It's starting to show its face, and it needs to be stopped."

State police Lt. Robert Weaver, commander of the crime unit at the
Greensburg barracks, said that not only are investigators seeking to stop
the flow to Westmoreland County -- most of the heroin comes from the
Pittsburgh area — they are trying to link the deaths to those who sold the
drugs.

"Basically what we've been doing, we're in communication with the county,
the district attorney and the local police departments. We're just trying
to back track where the stuff is coming from. We're still working on a
couple of our cases to see if charges are warranted," Weaver said.

He said those charges could involve the lesser offense of a delivery of
heroin, or the more serious crime of a delivery of heroin with a death
resulting. The death-related charge is a tough one to make stick, Weaver said.

"It's not often charged ... because it's hard to prove," he said.

But doing something is important.

" Anytime we see an increased loss of life, it's important," Weaver said.

Dr. Charles Winek, a toxicologist and director of PC Laboratories, an
uptown Pittsburgh firm that does toxicology testing for Westmoreland and
other western Pennsylvania counties, said highly concentrated heroin is in
the area.

"It's not uncommon for this, and it's because of the competition in New
York, Cleveland ... wherever it comes from," said Winek, a professor of
toxicology at Duquesne University for 38 years.

Dealers use the high concentration of the drug as a tool to attract, hook
and keep customers.

"There's no quality control on illicit drugs," Baric said. "And it's not
only the quality ... but the fact there's interaction with other drugs."

Police use several methods to try to trace the heroin's origins, including
looking for "common ground" in the use and deaths.

"A lot of the (heroin) packets are marked (with names such as Red Devil),
and we have individual officers in our drug unit that track these products.
They're actually brand names, so to speak. Also, we're interviewing the
people (who witnessed the heroin use) or family members. We're just talking
to people to see what they have to say," Weaver said, noting public
cooperation is a key to stopping the flow.

So is education of the public.

Principal Andrighetti said when his school district became aware through
the survey that 25 percent of the 330 seniors were "consistent users" --
meaning they used alcohol or other drugs at least once a month -- the
decision was made to take "a proactive stance." Assemblies were called for
each grade at the high school, and talk was frank.

"We wanted to make sure our students were well aware of the concerns,"
Andrighetti said. "We felt we should inform our students about these
high-risk (behaviors) ... that the risks are exponential."

Andrighetti noted the district also looks at the survey as a positive
finding, since 75 percent of the seniors said they weren't "consistent users."

The hope is that these students can influence the other 25 percent not to
use drugs.

Another hope is that the "consistent users" heard what was said at the
assemblies.

"I don't know," Andrighetti said of whether the message reached them. "I
really don't know. I hope it gets across. I guess we can't tell until we go
down the road a bit.

"But I hope it got across."