~ which have in turn been again Dallas school * teachers to pay their own fines, 8 The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Wednesday, August 14, 1996 Heroin (continued from page 1) ner Joseph Shaver said the cause of death will not be determined until routine toxicological screen- ings and studies of blood, tissue and body fluids are completed, which could take several weeks. Nearly a month ago, Back Mountain resident Michael Bohlin, 17, died in Wilkes-Barre of a heroin overdose. . Heroin has made a comeback as the drug of choice in the area over the past five years, Balavage said. When he became a sergeant 8 1/2 years ago, he saw an aver- age of one heroin overdose case per year. Now he sees about halfa dozen. Drugs seem to follow spiraling cycles of popularity. Marijuana, heroin and prescription drugs (“uppers”), which were once very popular, gave way to LSD, which was replaced by cocaine and crack. Then the spiral swung back to more potent strains of marijuana, Mountain, whom he feels might be deterred from seeking treat- ment if Mike's last name were published. “A bag of the drub which for- merly sold for $50 now costs $10 in Philadelphia,” he said. “The price and the fact that it's more potent attracts potential users and gets them hooked faster.” He has seen a dramatic in- crease in heroin-related admis- sions to Choices in the past 12-18 months. While half of the program's patients were addicted to hard drugs and heroin and the other half to alcohol last year, nearly 70 percent of Choices’ ad- missions are now addicted to al- - cohol combined with another drug, especially heroin. The age of the typical user has also changed drastically. “Until last year the average age of our abusers was around 29 years old,” Mike said. “Now most of them are between 17 and 21 years old.” Dealers are now targeting up- per-middle class kids, who have more money available to them, he added. “The typical abuser is no longer the junkie on the street corner,” Mike said. “We're also seeing more replaced by heroin. Heroin has also become cheaper and stronger, according to Mike, a counselor at Choices at Nesbitt Memorial Hospital. Mike declined to give his last name because Choices treats many patients from the Back (continued from page 1) subject to dismissal for derelic- tion of duty if the board votes for it. All professional certificates will be reviewed once a year. “If the new policy required the during Christmas vacation. The contractor may also work eve- nings or around the clock to fin- ish the job. Because the state considered the roof repairs to be an emer- gency situation, it allowed the dis- trict to obtain price quotations from three contractors instead of advertising for bids, as is usually required. we would be required to negotiate it with the teachers’ association,” said solicitor Ben Jones. “Other- wise the association could file a grievance against us.” The board also approved a bid by Mid-Valley Contractors to re- pair the roof supports at the Dal- las Elementary School at a total cost of $46,000. As long as the back half of the roof is finished by the start of school, the contractor may finish the rest of the job Statue (continued from page 1) In other personnel matters, the board approved a list of bus driv- ers, aides, department chairmen, teachers’ salaries, substitute pro- fessional and non-professional employees and part-time profes- sional and clerical employees. before,” he added. “I knew I could do it. It was a challenge - I like to take on challenges because they keep things interesting.” A 1984 graduate of Dallas High School, Jones graduated with an associate's degree in construction technology from Williamsport Community College in 1986. He started his own business right after graduation and named it Siberian Specialties, for his Sibe- rian husky dogs, four years ago. 16 Carverton Road, Trucksville call Ahead Be TSR To ]0 Eat in or Take Out Try Our Wings! Mon.: 4:00 pm - 10:00 pm Tues., Wed., Thurs.: 4:00 pm - 11:00 pm Fri.: 11:00 am - 12:00 Midnight Sat.: 12:30 pm - 12:00 Midnight « Sun.: 2:00 pm - 11:00 pm People interested in the Back Mountain Dallas Post a real hometown paper you can feel good about 675-5211 parents refer their children to us — they don’t know what else to do with them.” A decade or two ago, teens typi- cally went through several phases on their way to becoming addicts, he said. Starting with alcohol, they “graduated” to marijuana, then cocaine, heroin or crack. Now they're skipping the alcohol and marijuana altogether and start- ing with heroin. Heroin is extremely physically and psychologically addictive, Mike said. “The problem isn't getting clean,” he said. “It's staying clean — the stuff seems to have a greater attraction than some other sub- stances.” Atleast one area school district has applied for a grant to expand its drug avoidance education pro- gram. According to assistant super- intendent of curriculum Dr. Gil- bert Griffiths of Dallas, the dis- trict wants to expand the Drug Avoidance Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program, already in place in the fifth grade, to lower grades in the elementary school. Dallas already has a drug edu- cation program in all grades and last semester sent its middle school teachers for additional training. “We recognized that heroin use is increasing in the community,” he said. “The school and the po- lice are monitoring certain areas of the community where drug sales are known to take place,” Referring to the death of Michael Bohlin, he added, “It’s always bad when you lose one of your stu- dents.” Dallas Township police chief Carl Miers and Dallas Borough police chief Jack Fowler said heroin use affects allages and has had a sort of ripple effect on crime in the area. “In more than 75 percent of the burglary and theft cases which we've solved, the defendants have admitted to us that they had hard- core drug problems,” Miers said. “Three years ago we'd hear of maybe one heroin case. In the past six months alone my depart- ment has investigated and ar- rested four suspects who admit- ted they were heroin addicts.” The state police have issued an alert to all departments that “bad” heroin is coming from New York and Philadelphia, the two main sources for addicts in the area. “It's more pure than what people were using before,” Miers said. “Addicts are using the same amounts they would normally and are overdosing on it.” Fowler attributes heroin’s in- creasing availability to improved highways and telecommunica- tions. “Dealers use cellular phones and beepers for their customers to leave coded messages,” he said. “With more traffic you also get more crime and drug problems. The Back Mountain isn't isolated any more —- we're dealing with the same problems as police in the Valley. We're joining forces to work “on them together.” The drug pipeline between the Wyoming Valley and New York or Philadelphia is easily navigated thanks to modern mass transpor- tation, Balavage said. It's easy to hop a long-distance bus to either city, purchase the drugs and re- turn home the same day. “Police are now routinely check- ing interstate buses coming into |) 4 Pennsylvania for drugs,” he said. Balavage, Fowler and Miers agree that solving the problem of drug abuse and overdose requires more than police work. “If we are to make any headway atall, we need help from the entire community and hard-nosed leg- islation to address the problem,” Balavage said. “People see things happening and don't want to become involved until they are crime victims them- selves,” Fowler said. “A person living in a neighborhood sees more than the officer on patrol. Some- one must tip us off. 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