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MON

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567-940-9152

Sunday, June 12, 2016 $2

Heroin hits home

INSIDE TODAY

Epidemic forces treatment-centered

approach by police, area courts
By Craig Kelly

ckelly@civitasmedia.com

Best of the Region

Cast your ballot on the best places to

eat, play and shop in the Lima region, and
you could win four tickets to Cedar Point.
Fill out your ballot, and learn the winners
on July 31.

Pages 4E-5E

Salute to Graduates

Check out our keepsake edition for the

Class of 2016, including photographs,
lists of graduates and more.

Section G

OTTAWA There
was a time when deputies
in the Putnam County
Sheriffs Office thought
their quiet farming county was relatively safe from
big city problems such
as heroin, but that time
has long since passed.
Several years ago, we
heard in our statewide
sheriffs (meeting) about
this from the southern
sheriffs, Putnam County
Sheriff Tim Meyer said.
It seemed like it had
come down there much
earlier compared to us.
In some ways, we were
feeling pretty good about
it, that it hadnt come
here. But we have to face
reality that it is here, and
were watching it grow
each year.
Reports on the number
Craig J. Orosz | The Lima News of heroin overdose deaths
Allen County Sheriff Sam Crish works his drug sniffing K-9 named Alk, on the in Putnam County reflect
exterior of a parked vehicle. Dogs are key tool in keeping heroin off the streets,
officials said.

ABOUT THIS SERIES

The Lima News begins a
four-day series looking
into the real impact
of heroin and opioid
addiction in the region
and the challenges in
defeating the drug.
Read more stories from
the series Heroin: A
different kind of drug
problem at LimaOhio.
com/heroin.
Today: Laws and the
court system
Monday: How people
get hooked
Tuesday: Challenges
with treatment
Wednesday: Efforts to
prevent addiction

See HEROIN | 4A

Ex-addict leaves prison

By Greg Sowinski

ally smoking marijuana and

alcohol was all he had done.
Someone offered it to
me, and I used it and got
LIMA William Miller
hooked. You keep using it
never had any intention of
because you dont want to
getting hooked on heroin.
He loves his children, val- go through the pain of the
withdraws, he said.
ued his freedom and was a
In four months, Miller
working man.
I just figured I would use began serving 30 days in
jail, which helped him get
it here and there, Miller
said. I went from snorting clean before going to prison
Greg Sowinski | The Lima News
for a positive drug test. His
it to shooting.
William Miller looks out the window Thursday at the Alvis House in Lima, where
fiance, who he helped start he will spend the next six months while he works on transitioning back into
But the drug he tried
when a friend offered took
society. He was addicted to heroin and served a prison sentence before his
over. Before that, occasionSee ADDICT | 4A release Tuesday.

gsowinski@civitasmedia.com

Mike Poling, of Delphos, said he expected

good governance and leadership and
nothing less in a national Associated
Press story about the state of the nation.

Page 6A

The race was won

Trump faces uphill climb

Creator caught Destin at the wire and

won by a nose in the $1.5 million Belmont
Stakes, the fourth time the race was
decided by that tiny margin of victory.

By Thomas Beaumont
and Julie Pace

Page 1C

The Associated Press

The next little thing

Jason Alt has a passion for miniature

horses that hes turned into a miniature
horse-breeding business, J.A. Miniatures,
in Leipsic.

Page 1D

CIVITAS MEDIA

2016 Published at Lima, Ohio

58 pages, 8 sections

PHILADELPHIA The
presidential primaries are just
about over and the nominees
have emerged. And the general
election begins with Democrat
Hillary Clinton already ahead
of Republican Donald Trump
on the Road to 270.
Trump, who shook the last
of his rivals weeks before ClinChris OMeara | AP ton locked up her nomination,
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump pauses during his has made the GOPs uphill
campaign speech to hug the American flag on Saturday in Tampa, Fla. path to the White House more

A NEWS
People & More:
2A
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Obituaries: 2B
Courts: 4B

D CLASSIFIED
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Opinion: 4D
Technology: 6D

C SPORTS
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E LIFESTYLE
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Ben Warnock, DDS

J Ellis, DDS
Erin Ellis, DMD
Deborah Champion, DDS

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Making America great

NEWS

4A Sunday, June 12, 2016

All about heroin

STREET NAMES:
H, smack, horse, brown, black tar

The Lima News

Small countys court not immune to heroins grip

By Greg Sowinski

gsowinski@civitasmedia.com

WHAT IT IS:
Heroin is a highly addictive drug
derived from morphine, which is
obtained from the opium poppy.
Heroins popularity is attributed to its
long-lasting high and its cheap price.
WHO IS TAKING IT?
Heroin has no boundaries. The
drug has trapped wealthy and poor
people, city folks and rural residents,
women and men, white people and
minorities. Many users turn to heroin
after getting hooked on prescription
pills that they no longer are able to
obtain from doctors. Others seek heroin after their tolerance for powerful
prescription pills reaches a plateau,
or the high from prescription pills
becomes too expensive to maintain.
RETURN OF HEROIN
The same drug cartels that distribute cocaine and meth have diversified
their markets into heroin distribution.
During the 1990s, crack and cocaine
were the drugs of choice, with methamphetamine growing in popularity
by the end of the 1990s and still a
major problem today. Heroin started
re-emerging in the mid-2000s.
WHERE IS IT COMING FROM?
Afghanistan is the biggest
producer of heroin, with 3.3 million Afghans involved in producing
opium. Afghanistan is part of a region
known as the Golden Triangle, which
also includes portions of Southeast
Asia, the Yunnan province in China,
Thailand, Vietnam and Laos.
Mexico and Columbia: Production has risen sixfold from 2007 to
2011, placing Mexico as the second largest opium producer in the
world. Mexican cartels are known to
produce a type of illicit heroin commonly called black tar, which results
in quicker synthesis. This black tar
heroin is found primarily in the western U.S., while white heroin comes
from Colombia and is primarily sold
on the East Coast.
HOW DOES A PERSON TAKE HEROIN?
Injection
Smoking
Oral
Suppository
Snorting
Ingestion
NEED HELP OVERCOMING ADDICTION?
1-888-905-4415
Coalition Against Drug Abuse
Sources: Coalition against Drug
Abuse; U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, Foundation for Drug Free World,
LiveScience.com

Heroin

OTTAWA Every once

in a while, Judge Chad Niese
receives a letter thanking
him for saving someones life
who was addicted to heroin.
The letters are few and far
between, but they are the
reason Niese continues to
believe heroin addicts can
receive help and be saved.
Niese, who is the judge
for the municipal court in
Putnam County, is a realist
who knows once an addict
is before him, the battle is
uphill the whole way. He
also believes the best way to
stop someone from getting
on heroin is to stop a person
before he or she even tries
the drug.
That is why Niese and others in the county go to all the
high schools, speaking about
the dangers of opioid-based
pain killers and heroin.
Niese has been a judge
for 11 years, and heroin and
prescription opioid pills have
been around for almost half
of that time.
I remember seeing it for
the first time. It was a gentleman on probation, and he
tested positive for opioid
prescription drugs, Niese
said, recalling he had no idea
it was only the beginning of
a big problem in the county
of 34,000 people.
The man did not have a
prescription for the drug,
Niese said.
Thats when I first started
noticing it, he said.
The addicts come from all

Greg Sowinski | The Lima News

Putnam County Municipal Court Judge Chad Niese has seen the impact
of heroin on lives.

backgrounds, young and old,

poor to well-to-do families.
Heroin and opioids do not
discriminate, he said. Heroin
users tend to be younger, in
their 20s, while opioid pills
are used by all age groups,
he said.
Niese tries to help all
defendants, so they can go
on to live productive lives,
especially those at risk of
committing new crimes and
possibly a felony that will
destroy their lives.
And it just doesnt affect
the addict; it affects his or her
family. It can be a simple as
the addict stealing to parents
turning their children in to
the police. Hes even seen a
parent get a call saying their
child overdosed and died, he
said.
He tries to fashion a sentence to address the problem. For addicts, that often
means some jail time, with
the balance hung over their
head while they get treatment. He relies on outside
agencies, whether its outpatient or inpatient treatment

Addict
From page 1A

using, also went to prison.

Miller hit rock bottom.
It will grab ahold of you and not let
go until youre almost to rock bottom
or dead, Miller said. It will control
everything in your life. Its not worth
losing your family over or your life.
Miller nearly died when he overdosed
and was in the hospital during his
addiction. He then realized it was time to
get help. His jail sentence out of Lima
Municipal Court for driving with a
suspended license, when he was caught
on his way to pick up heroin, helped
dry him out. It also gave him time to

ing north from Dayton.

It is very frustrating, Auglaize
County Sheriffs Office Lt. Mike
Vorhees said. We do see a lot of repeat
offenders, but we also know its a very
addictive drug. Ive witnessed where
weve had kids in the car while theyre
doing deals. I had one girl I arrested,
and I interviewed her and she told
me that she never thought shed get
wrapped up in heroin.
She came from a good family and
had a good home life and she got mixed
in with the wrong crowd. She told me,
I never wanted to be that addict mom.

to handle that.
But for a person to change,
that person has to be committed, he said.
The most challenging
part is seeing someone who
doesnt want to change. If
they dont want to change,
there is very little that we
can do or the probation
department can do that will
make a difference. The opioid or heroin addiction is so
strong unless they choose to
take the first step, it likely is
going to be really difficult for
them, Niese said.
That bothers Niese
because he knows the end
result can be death. Most
other drugs dont kill, but
heroin can be fatal. Hes had
addicts who came before him
he later learned overdosed.
There are two ways Niese
finds out someone is addicted to heroin or an opioid:
the person tells him, or the
person tests positive. They
come in streaks. He may go
a few months without one,
and then its every week for a
while, he said.

think and get into rehab programs.

I can honest say my kids is what got
me to snap out of it, he said. That
snapped my brain out of selfish mode.
He also is thankful he has a family to
support him and return to, which gave
him hope.
I had a picture of my kids. That
was my support system, my drive, my
goal to work for, he said. I hit rock
bottom. I guess you could say I had
somewhat of a cushion when I hit rock
bottom because I still had a family
with support. Some people dont have
family.
The last six months in prison left him
with a lot of time to think, too.
Its that emotional bond between
you and your family that is broke when
youre gone that hurts more than being

ment rather than simply getting drug

addicts off the streets and behind bars.
Youre going to have to treat the
problem
rather than just try to arrest
From page 1A
your way out of it, Meyer said. Once
this new reality, with totals going from
they get addicted to this, the addiction
zero in 2013 to four in 2014 to five in
is so strong, and it seems to last so
2015, with three 2016 deaths already
long, they have to have some treatment
reported as of early May.
and support mechanism, or theyre
Four more would have died if it
almost guaranteed to go back.
wasnt for (anti-opiate drug naloxone),
To addicts, of course, this may not
Meyer told the Ottawa Area Chamber
seem like a big difference at first, since
of Commerce during its May meeting.
this treatment-based approach also
Clearly, even quiet Putnam County
begins with an arrest, Lima Police Chief
is no longer immune to the nationwide
Kevin Martin said.
wildfire that is heroin addiction, which
We will arrest those people we find
continues to grow throughout the
Going to the dogs
possessing drugs, whether we think
region. In Allen County, for instance,
As the battle against heroin has
theyre dealers or not, on the approone to two residents die each week
increased, both in scope and severity,
priate charges, he said, but in part,
from a heroin overdose, officials said.
both law enforcement and the court sys- because its a vehicle to get them into
tem have been compelled to look at this treatment, whether its through drug
Fighting an uphill battle
issue differently than they would have
court or other means.
Meyer has seen firsthand how tight
with other drugs, such as cocaine and
This approach puts police in a position
of a grip heroin addiction can have on
marijuana.
where they become part of that rock
people, with one recent example being
In Putnam County, for instance, the
bottom moment, whether it is through
the escape of 22-year-old Breonna Stesheriffs office sought private and corpo- making an arrest or, with more police
phens from the countys Adult Detenrate donations to bring two police dogs cruisers now carrying anti-opiate drug
tion Center. Stephens had a furlough to to the county. While Meyer acknowlnaloxone, being on hand to administer a
attend a funeral, but she did not return edges these dogs will come with numer- life-saving drug during an overdose.
to the jail, choosing instead to seek out ous benefits for county law enforcement
I think for society as a whole, heroin
her old lifestyle, according to Meyer.
when they begin work in mid-July, one
is getting a lot more attention because
Physically, she had withdrawn, but
of the primary motivators for bringing
we have a lot more people who are dying
mentally, she had not, he said. Thats these dogs in is to help curb the heroin from overdoses, Martin said. Its now
how desperate these people are when
trade in the county.
getting the attention of politicians and
they become addicted.
Our biggest problem has been locatothers in society because its hard to find
For drug investigators in the Lima
ing the drugs, and unless a courier is
someone who doesnt know someone
Police Department, witnessing heroins nice enough to leave it on the front
who has been affected by this.
death grip on addicts can be frustrating, seat, detection and probable cause for
Lauck added, You could have a state
even overwhelming, with some cases
a search is minimal, he said. Thats
senator now whose kid is using. Its
hitting close to home.
where the canines can play such a key
affecting everyone now.
I had a girl who I grew up with,
role because with their acute sense of
drug investigator Deana Lauck said. I
smell, they can find things and alert you It was everywhere
came across her because I bought dope to things that are present that the officer
Addiction to heroin soon leads to
from her. I sat and talked with her for
desperation for many users, compelling
would otherwise not be aware of.
hours and hours. She was in custody for
them to lie, cheat, steal or do whatever
weeks and had gone through withdraw- Cant arrest your way out
else it takes to be able to buy that next
als, and the first thing she did when she
While law enforcement agencies
hit. Local and county courts quickly
got out was go right back to it.
remain committed to pursuing and
began to see the flood of cases stemSimilar difficulties have also been
arresting heroin traffickers, there has
ming from this, leading to the drug
encountered in Auglaize County, with
been a shift in tone when it comes to
court initiative.
the Grand Lake Drug Task Force dealdealing with those addicted to the drug,
Lima Municipal Court Judge Taming with a steady stream of heroin flow- with a greater emphasis placed on treat- mie Hursh helped start the first local

The defendants that I

have typically have been that
we found out as a result of
a probation violation. They
test dirty, he said.
The crimes run the gamut
too. Its not just thefts where
someone steals to support
their drug habit; he sees
domestic violence and drunken driving as the crimes.
Cases a positive test
comes up runs the gamut,
he said. There really isnt
one specific thing, and thats
what makes it more troubling
for me on this end. It seems
to effect people from all
walks. You see it from folks
you wouldnt expect to see
it from. Ive had anywhere
from housewives to college
students.
So while Niese spends
his days trying to deal with
people whose destructive
behavior often landed them
in trouble, he continues to
believe the best way to help
people is to prevent someone
from trying drugs in the first
place.
We can sit on this end
and try to play catch up,
which is basically what we
are doing, but trying to
address it before it becomes
a problem is the biggest
thing we can do, he said.
The biggest thing with this
entire epidemic is educating
the kids. Dont let it begin.
By the time it gets to the
court system, you already
have a big problem.
Reach Greg Sowinski at 567-242-0464
or on Twitter @Lima_Sowinski.

locked up, he said.

The 29-year-old Miller was released
from prison Tuesday and has six
months in a local residential re-entry
program before he can live on his own.
After that, he has to show he can keep
clean and not have a positive drug test.
He must maintain a job to support his
3-year-old son and 1-year-old daughter
in order to get them back. For now, he
has supervised visits.
Hes just taking it a day at a time,
committed to staying clean.
All my goals are set in place to stay
clean for myself, No. 1, and my kids,
No. 2, and to get my kids back home
where they belong, he said.
Reach Greg Sowinski at 567-242-0464 or on Twitter @
Lima_Sowinski.

municipal drug court nearly a year ago

after seeing more opiate-related cases
coming before her.
It was everywhere, she said. It was
across the board all ages, areas, educational levels. At this point, it would be
rare for a day to go by where we dont
see someone addicted to opiates.
Hursh also saw that, in many of these
cases, if it were not for the addiction,
these people would likely be law-abiding
citizens. For them, the drug court is an
ideal way of facilitating long-term treatment.
They will still, in most cases, serve
some time in jail, she said. That is
very important, to ensure they are off
the drugs. We have treatment already
established and ready to go when
theyre released.
That treatment can include medicinalbased treatment as well as therapy, with
those in treatment consistently monitored to help prevent relapses.
Since we started, weve done 1,224
blood screens, and 1,192 have come
back negative, Hursh said.
Where was all of this?
With heroin now entrenched in affluent suburbs and small towns, as well
as the inner city, concerns have been
raised as to whether this is why law
enforcement is looking at new treatment options.
For Hursh, this drug is reaching
everyone, everywhere, no matter the
ethnic or socioeconomic background,
and that is prompting this response.
Its all about the numbers now, she
said.
Those higher numbers are also coming with higher stakes than other drugs,
with heroin now killing one to two
Allen County residents every week.
Should we have been doing all of this
20 years ago and should this have been
more out there? Lauck said. Yeah,
it should have, but that line has been
crossed where people are dying now.
Reach Craig Kelly at 567-242-0390 or on Twitter @
Lima_CKelly.