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ELKINS – Nearly 100 individuals showed their commitment to alleviating the drug epidemic in the region by attending a drug forum hosted by city officials Friday.
The public forum was scheduled prior to a regular scheduled City Council meeting at Elkins City Hall.
The forum featured a presentation by Tara Tighe, Assistant U.S. Attorney from the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of West Virginia, who is also a public information officer and community outreach coordinator.
Tighe offered state, as well as regional, statistics and shared creative ideas for combating drug abuse in the community.
“We can’t do what we do without getting input and perspective from community members,” she said.
Tighe said in the past year, while substance use of mood-altering substances – alcohol, prescription pills and tobacco – have been on the decline, the use of heroin and marijuana use are on the rise among individuals age 18 to 25.
West Virginia ranks first in the nation in heroin overdose deaths and the use of mood-altering substances. The state ranks third in narcotic pain medication prescriptions. Tighe noted there is a “very strong link” between prescription painkiller abuse and addiction to heroin.
“Over the last several years, law enforcement have done a very good job of cracking down on prescription pain pills, so people are switching over to heroin,” she said.
“The heroin overdose death rate is increasing quite rapidly while the death rate for prescription opioids is leveling out.”
Tighe said one reason heroin use is on the rise is because West Virginia is “perfectly situated” between a number of large cities – or “source cities” – including Detroit, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Cleveland. She emphasized that the illegal drug market is price-driven based on supply and demand.
“In these cities there’s a lot more demand and a lot more people, so the price of drugs is lower,” she said. “People go, buy it in those cities and bring it back here where there’s less demand to sell at a higher price.”
Tighe said the main goal of the United State’s Attorney’s Office is to help promote education on drug use. She said her office works with different experts and professionals as part of the U.S. Attorney’s Addiction Action Plan. These individuals are working to come up with “creative solutions” and “tangible goals” to help combat drug abuse.
Tighe’s office is working on initiatives dealing with Naloxone/Narcan, a medication that can reverse symptoms of an overdose. The goal is to have all law enforcement agents carry the medication, and to make it available to family members and friends of individuals with opiate dependencies.
Also, the first federal drug court program has been made available within the state.
Tighe introduced Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Warner, who works out of the Elkins Federal building. Warner brought up specific federal court cases in the region that show progress being made in getting drugs off the streets. He spoke briefly about how meth labs are on the decline in the region because drug dealers are importing crystal methamphetamine from
Mexico.
“We’re getting large amounts of 99.7 percent pure methamphetamine,” he said. “I’ve been doing this for 15 years and I’ve never seen this type of pure methamphetamine come into this area.”
Panel Discussion
After the presentation, Mayor Van Broughton introduced a panel consisting of Family Resource Network Director Rebecca Vance, Elkins Police Chief C.D. Cross and Jim Wilson, executive director of The Gatehouse, a 501c3 organization committed to opening an inpatient rehabilitation facility in Elkins.
Members of the panel spoke about the roles their respective agencies play in combating the drug epidemic in the community and answered questions posed by community members. The panelists discussed their ongoing efforts and the limitations their organizations and agencies face.
Vance announced that FRN has partnered with the city of Elkins to place a “prescription drug take-back” box in City Hall that will be available during regular hours. FRN will continue to host drug take-back days in the parking lot next to the Randolph Elkins Health Department.
“The idea behind this box is to get all prescription medications that people aren’t using off the streets and out of the houses so there’s less likelihood of people breaking into homes for prescription medications,” she said.
Vance noted another goal of the take-back box and collections is to prevent people from improperly disposing of their pills through the city’s water supply.
Wilson spoke about efforts to open the Gatehouse, a 35-bed level IV recovery residence in Elkins for indigent alcoholic and drug-addicted men. A Level IV recovery residence is a minimum 90-day, non-medical, long-term residential treatment facility where clients are allowed to stay up to two years while seeking treatment.
“It was wonderful to walk into this room and have to look around to find a seat,” he said. “For somebody who’s been connected to the city of Elkins for the last 30 years, I can draw a direct time line from treatment and the substance abuse problem in Elkins 20 years ago versus the problem of substance abuse in Elkins today.”
Wilson added he’s willing to bet that if a similar forum were scheduled 20 years ago in the same way, there would be a fraction of community members participating.
Cross spoke about the importance of changing the illegal drug culture in Elkins.
“We have to change their attitudes,” he said. “There’s no secret what heroin and methamphetamines will do to you.”
Later in the meeting, Cross officially announced the Elkins Police Department is open to collaborating with neighborhood watch groups, if people are interested and are willing to follow the accepted national guidelines for such activities. A public meeting has been scheduled at 6 p.m. Wednesday in council chambers at City Hall for interested residents to learn more about the initiative.
After each of the panelists spoke, multiple audience members inquired about what they can do to help alleviate the problem. Two individuals commented they’d be willing to pay higher taxes to help fund law enforcement agencies so they can be better equipped to tackle the drug problem.
Local Officials Speak
Randolph County Sheriff Mark Brady was one of about a dozen local officials in attendance. He encouraged those who see something illegal to call the county’s anonymous, voice-operated tip line at 304-636-8477.
“We encourage everyone to provide tips,” he said. “We work them and I can assure you they don’t go out where anybody is looking at them. Then when we fix the puzzle we can complete the investigation and present it to the prosecuting attorney’s office.”
Brady said, with many law enforcement agencies lacking resources, the Mountain Region Drug Task Force alleviates some of these concerns through collaboration.
Delegate Denise Campbell, D-Randolph, noted that in many cases addicts discover drugs at a young age. She asked if it could be possible to utilize police officers in county schools.
“I have conversations with high school students who tell me they can get whatever they want and who they get it from,” she said. “We say that we’re educating students, but what are we doing about moderating what’s coming into the school?”
Cross said the EPD simply does not have enough resources to place an officer in the schools. Brady said the Randolph County School Board can apply for a grant that would require matching funds to place an officer in county schools.
City Treasurer Tracy Judy said she understands that Randolph County Schools just failed to pass an education levy, but responsibilities like this “shouldn’t always roll downhill to the city.”
“The school board needs to do their part, the city needs to do their part and the state needs to do their part,” she said. “It has to be a team. The city can’t be relied on to save everybody.”
Judy pointed out that no members of the Randolph County Board of Education or Central Office staff attended the forum.
Broughton announced the city intends to host drug forums every few months moving forward that will include different speakers to ensure that communication and collaboration continues.
“It’s going to take working together as a community to solve this problem,” he said.
Representatives from participating agencies and organizations provided drug awareness materials and more information about substance abuse to attendants before and after the meeting.
Lynn Phillips, the regional representative for Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, highlighted some of the legislative efforts signed by Tomblin in recent years to combat the drug problem.
“Over the past several years our state has come a long way in the fight against substance abuse but there is still more work to be done,” he said. “Gov. Tomblin believes that we must continue to work together on both a statewide and local level to help all West Virginians lead happy, healthy lives in the Mountain State.”
More Forums
to Come
After the meeting, Broughton said he was very excited about the forum’s attendance. He added that collaboration is key and although it will be a challenge, he believes Elkins can win the battle against drugs.
“This was a big step to get us started,” he said. “If we can put a dent in this issue, make some progress and get Elkins back to being a nice, quiet, little city, it benefits everybody.”
Broughton added there was good information being tossed around during the forum that will help on the road ahead.
“A lot of people learned a lot, myself included,” he said. “We’re going to keep this going and hopefully the word gets out so more residents get involved.”
Fourth Ward Councilwoman Nanci Bross-Fregonara said the turnout was “extraordinary.”
“It was so good to come in here and see it was a full house,” she said. “I attended another drug forum that didn’t have nearly as many people and that concerned me because I think this is a huge concern for local citizens.”
Bross-Fregonara added she hopes these discussions can lead to action items.
“Let’s actually start doing things,” she said. “This is the first time I’ve felt like something will actually happen for the better,”
Second Ward Councilman Mitch Marstiller said it would be fantastic if community members were so involved on every agenda item.
“I think this is one of the biggest problems facing our community today,” he said. “I think that through community interaction and collaboration with police and various entities that can contribute, we’ll have a good solution eventually.”