A former heroin addict who spoke at the “Taking Back Our Communities” conference and resource fair in Mason, Ohio, said his recovery was a “journey of a million tiny steps.” And, fortunately for him, along the way, there were people to help. He has been clean for three years.
Community involvement is vital in the fight against heroin, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine told more than 100 concerned citizens who gathered on Oct. 20 at Christ’s Church.
In a series of conferences open to faith-based and community leaders, grassroots organizations and members of the public, DeWine is encouraging communities to rise up against the epidemic of heroin that is plaguing all 88 counties of Ohio.
“The counties where I have seen some real progress have been counties where it got so bad, people got so sick of seeing their kids die and their neighbor’s kids die, that they just literally rose up and started a grassroots effort,” he said.
The Attorney General’s Heroin Unit, developed in 2013, helps local law enforcement and prosecutors as they pursue upper-level dealers. But, DeWine said, he knew he had to do more. “We aren’t going to arrest our way out of this problem. This is a consumption problem.”
DeWine expanded the Heroin Unit into education and prevention and hired a team to spread the word and try to help foster grassroots efforts. Among those speaking out against heroin is Heidi Riggs, who lost her 20-year-old daughter, Marin, to a heroin overdose. A video about her daughter,
Marin’s Story: The Battle Against Heroin, is available to view on the Attorney General’s website.
“Our goal today is to have fewer families go through what Marin’s family has gone through,” DeWine said. “This is an epidemic that is different than any drug epidemic I’ve ever seen.
“I started my career as a prosecuting attorney in Greene County in the 1970s. In those days, heroin was something that we expected to find in the big cities. …It was not a drug you expected to find in Mason, Ohio, or Cedarville, Ohio, or any small village or in our suburbs. Today, heroin is everywhere in Ohio.”
Warren County Sheriff Larry Sims said his jail, particularly the female unit, is full thanks to heroin.
“They are in there either because of the heroin-related crimes or for possession. We struggle to find resources to get them out of the facility. …We’ve become like many jails throughout our county, a detox center for these individuals.”
Warren County Coroner Chief Investigator Doyle Burke agreed that the problem is widespread.
“Five or six years ago, if there was an overdose, it was usually prescription drugs,” he said. “But the pendulum shifted. And now heroin is the most prolific drug we see in our drug overdoses.
“The way we are going to combat this is by the initiatives like Attorney General DeWine is doing,” Burke said. “You need to put a face to these people because the people I see now are not your stereotypical addicts of the past. They are younger people, they are older people, they are poor people they are affluent people. It’s a drug that captures the entire society.”
Burke said community involvement can make a difference.
“It’s time to take back our communities. We are losing our communities to this drug. Not only are the victims, our heroin addicts, suffering, but so are all the people who surround them.”
Among the faith-based groups taking on the heroin crisis is the Champions Network. The network seeks to connect addicts to resources and solutions through local churches. The group relies on churches throughout the state to pick a “champion” from their congregations who can reach out to those who need help.
For more information about the Champions Network, visit
www.OhioChampionsNetwork.org.
For more information about the Attorney General’s Heroin Unit, visit
www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov/DrugAbuse.