CHENANGO COUNTY – Heroin use across Chenango County has been more in the radar for local law enforcement in recent years, with many local officers now calling heroin a growing epidemic as the number of heroin abuse incidences have steadily increased.
The City of Norwich alone has seen an irrefutable surge of heroin-related arrests as of late last year. In 2011, Norwich police made only two arrests involving criminal possession of a hypodermic instrument, but by 2012, that quickly jumped to 21 arrests, according to Norwich Police Chief Joseph Angelino. Meanwhile, criminal possession or sale of controlled substance arrests, many involving heroin, rose from 35 to 43.
In New Berlin, trends are much the same. The Route 8 corridor is a beaten pathway for drug dealers, as is nearby Route 23 that leads from the Town of South New Berlin to Oneonta. But the problem isn’t catching criminal behavior, says the New Berlin Police Department; the problem is preventing it in the first place and taking action to provide the necessary resources for heroin-addicted individuals.
“It’s an epidemic. It’s everywhere and we’re not doing anything to actually solve the problem,” said New Berlin Police Sgt. Dominick Commesso, noting the lack of preparedness and resources available in Chenango County to address the issue of heroin addiction. “The worst thing is that a lot of the people, especially young people, who want to quit have no place to turn. And most of them want to quit.”
Chenango County is following in the footsteps of a nationwide trend of increased heroin use, Commesso added. The use of heroin has become increasingly alarming, particularly for the younger demographic, age 13-18. The problem, he said, often starts with an addiction to opiate-based prescription pills. After people are hooked on these opiates, they progress to heroin, which is also opiate-based but comes at a much cheaper price and carries the same effects, and the same physical and psychological addiction. “Addiction isn’t the crime,” he added. “The things they do to support their addiction is the crime ... We’re doing what we can to keep it out of the area, but we need to be more proactive.”
Commesso advocated for more parental involvement, as well as enhanced education for local youth and school counselors about the effects of heroin use. He also suggested the possibility of utilizing Camp Pharsalia - the former correctional facility in the Town of Pharsalia, closed in 2009 - to be reopened as a 24-hour supportive care inpatient service for addicts. “We would really need community support for something like that,” he said. Currently, no such resource exists in Chenango County.
The county does, however, offer drug abuse clinic services that provides assessment and evaluation; crisis intervention; school-based prevention services; individual counseling; group therapy; child, parent-child and family therapy; vocational evaluation services; and medication therapy.
“What we look at is the ability to achieve and maintain abstinence at an outpatient level,” explained Program Coordinator Cheryl DeRosa. Recently, the Chenango County Alcohol and Drug Abuse Clinic has seen an increase of outpatients that correlate to the increased number of arrests seen by local police departments. While the clinic proves to be a valuable resource, it does not provide Suboxone or methadone treatment for heroin addicts and often refers its patients to inpatient centers outside the county, including the United Health Services’ New Horizons Program and Fairview Recovery Services, both in Binghamton.
“They may start out with us and we determine if they need additional services. All treatment is based on individual needs,” DeRosa added. “If we can reduce the symptoms of withdrawal, the person can often be successful, but for inpatient services, we generally refer out.”
Although DeRosa has worked for the Chenango County Clinic for only two months, previous experience working in drug and alcohol abuse clinics in nearby Broome and Tioga counties has given her plenty of background in the field. Like Officer Commesso, she agrees that heroin use is definitely on the rise and the possibility of a halfway house or supportive living inpatient center is a practical suggestion. “It’s very sad, but really, there’s an increase. Across the board, not speaking specifically for Chenango County, there does appear to be an increase,” she said. “Many younger people are coming in too. We have a pretty significant number of people between 13 and 18.”
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, treatment needs to be readily available for drug-addicted individuals and drug use during treatment must be monitored continuously as lapses during treatment do occur, although no single treatment is appropriate for everyone.
Said Commesso, “The main thing we have to do is organize as a community to attack this.”
If there is no market for heroin, there are no dealers and that would lead to a positive social impact, he added.