OD onslaught
The stories all sounded so familiar. They involved people who started using drugs and found themselves trapped in a nightmare of needing narcotics not just to get high but to survive. Arrests soon followed, and then came a choice. Either enter a drug treatment program, or go to jail.
Those speaking during a program at the Westmoreland County Community College in Youngwood on Tuesday said they entered the program, and their lives have been changed for the better.
The speakers were talking before a panel of state legislators who were meeting to try and find answers to the drug problem that is sweeping across Pennsylvania in epidemic-like proportions.
One answer they learned could be drug treatment programs operated by the courts. Westmoreland County Megan Bilik-DeFazio, said she started such a program in 2015 with fellow Judge C.A. Feliciana.
She said defendants facing drug charges have a choice of either jail or an 18-month drug court program, which includes intense supervision, substance abuse treatment, drug screening, community service and parenting and life skills classes. Participants are held accountable for violating program rules and rewarded for making positive changes in their lives, she said. None of the participants she oversees has been in trouble with the law since the program started, she added.
However, the program can only hold 50 participants, which is far below the number of those who need help. The county prison warden reported that 72 percent of the prisoners entering the jail need detox treatment, including almost half of the pregnant female inmates. However, there simply isn’t enough money available to provide drug treatment for all the inmates. This despite the fact that keeping 50 drug court participants out of jail saves the county an estimated $100,000 a year.
However, funding for drug treatment programs isn’t just a problem for Westmoreland County. In his budget, Gov. Wolf proposed the creation of 50 drug rehabilitation centers across the state at a cost of $34 million. The state Legislature balked, approving only $15 million for 20 centers.
There’s no doubt, though, that something needs to be done about the growing drug problem, especially here in Westmoreland, Washington, Fayette and Greene counties.
According to statistics compiled for 2015 by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, all four counties rank among the top 16 counties in the commonwealth for overdose deaths per 100,000 people.
Greene County was ranked fourth in the state with 14 overdose deaths, Westmoreland County was ranked seventh with 126 overdose deaths, Washington County was ranked ninth with 73 overdose deaths and Fayette County was ranked 16th with 41 overdose deaths.
Overall, there were 3,383 drug-related overdose deaths reported in 2015 across the commonwealth, an increase of 23.4 percent from 2014.
Such numbers, of course, can’t even begin to describe the heartbreak and grief that loved ones experience when a family member or loved one overdoses on drugs. And these days, it seems like everyone knows someone who has died in such a tragic manner.
The legislators are to be credited for at least talking about the problem and trying to find some solutions. But whether the solution is drug courts, rehabilitation centers or some other alternative, it’s going to cost money, and lawmakers must find a way to raise the necessary funds to combat this dreaded disease. There is no other alternative.