The Herald-Standard examines how school districts and other agencies have responded to the financial impact the opioid epidemic has had on Mon Valley grandparents and other guardians raising children of parents who have been claimed by drug abuse.

Fatal drug overdoses are ravaging the Mon Valley more than ever, putting an onus on school counselors and administrators to support students devastated by a loved one’s battle with addiction or drug-induced death. The Herald-Standard takes a closer look at the emotional devastation of families who have been touched this trend, the impact it's had on area school districts and what those schools are doing about it.

In her first 12 years at Connellsville Area School District, Torrie Winseck recalls counseling two students through the traumatic experience of losing a parent to drug addiction.

Today and yesterday marked the beginning of a monthly series probing the financial and emotional costs of overdose deaths. The articles will look at the toll paid by those who have lost loved ones to addiction, as well as those who help treat or respond to it. We welcome reader feedback as we continue to probe this difficult subject.

The Herald-Standard examines the monetary costs left behind by a record-breaking spike of overdose deaths in Washington and Westmoreland counties, sapping families' finances and stretching coroner's office's resources thin.

Tommy Darrell was known as "the poster child for recovery."

The Herald-Standard explores the emotional desolation and confusion families endure after the fatal overdose of a loved one, a burden becoming increasingly common in the Mon Valley as deaths by drug overdose there continue to rise at a record-breaking rate.

Two longtime law enforcement officers believe the drug problem in Fayette County has gotten far worse in recent years, but they refuse to give up the fight.

In 2013, the Fayette County Drug Task Force (FCDTF) conducted 162 investigations that resulted in one or more arrests and is on track to compile similar numbers this year.

While the figures may draw concern, they can also be viewed as positive because those that sell drugs and buy drugs are being found and arrested.

Canines have stood beside police forces for decades, lending their protective instincts and keen noses.

And now man’s best friend has joined the front to combat one of man’s worst enemies--illegal drugs.

Richard Markovich and Vicky Tringes are patients at Addiction Specialists, a Fayette County rehabilitation clinic that seeks to cure their cravings through a program that includes methodone, counseling and more. The company treats more than 600 patients.

Nearly three-quarters of the inmates incarcerated in Fayette County Prison today are being treated for some drug-related issue.

Drug use and the crimes that are committed by those under the influence is on the rise, not only locally, but across the state.

The aftermath of a drug overdose weighs on the shoulders of ER nurse Robinette Vitez. Seeing loved ones grieve for a deceased family member under the harsh lights of the emergency department is the worst part of the job.

Twelve Step support groups aren’t just for addicts; families and friends of addicts also find support and a recovery of their own through Nar-Anon and Al-Anon. “The people who come to Nar-Anon meetings are actually sicker than the abusers. The abusers have drugs to make them do crazy things. The folks that love them are the ones out in the bushes at 4 a.m. trying to help them.” 

Hospital emergency room physicians and nurses are finding themselves at the front lines of a changing drug culture in treating more patients overdosing from heroin and prescription drugs.

For victims of illicit opioid or prescription drug overdoses, it's an antidote for a second shot at life.

Naloxone, also called Narcan, is a potential life saving drug used in hospital emergency departments and in ambulances to reverse accidental or intentional opioid overdoses.

Stephanie Madl has worked with clients in treating drug and alcohol addictions for years. And through her experience, she believes the best treatment for an addict is a large continuum of care.

The picture is not pretty, nor are the words encouraging.

For every 100,000 people calling Pennsylvania home last year, 15 died as a result of a drug overdose, nearly double the figure in 1999.

Under the Affordable Care Act, all Americans are to be insured and addiction treatment is one of the key areas each policy must contain. In fact, under Act 106 of 1989, all group insurance policies needed to include at least minimal coverage for addiction treatment.

Two experts contend that children from parents with alcohol problems may be affected psychologically. Anna Deeds, a licensed professional counselor in Uniontown, has worked with parents and children dealing with problems associated with alcohol and drug use. Dr. John Carosso is a child psychologist with extensive experience counseling families coping with substance abuse.

The cost of drug addiction can bankrupt a person both emotionally and financially. “It starts as a habit of $20 to $50 a day but as tolerance increases the cost increases along with it,” said Ashley Potts, addiction specialist, Washington Drug and Alcohol Commission Inc. (WDAC). “Eventually demise always comes.”

Addiction is often fueled by love in the form of enablement.

George Britt’s drug addiction began at the age of 23 while he was working for a steel scaffolding company in Dunbar.

A doctor, a lawyer and a business owner – all hardworking people, all people who find value, in one way or another, with marijuana use. The business owner uses it to mellow out. The doctor believes that it has medicinal benefits. The lawyer has seen lives ruined over marijuana crimes. As the battle about whether to decriminalize or offer limited legalization of pot wages, those who believe it could provide benefits are standing up to be counted.

For those who are witness to the effects of drug and alcohol addiction on a daily basis, the idea of marijuana legalization is a scary thought.

Bill Addis has a warm but stern look within his eyes as he sits in a pew within the chapel of Uniontown’s Trinity Presbyterian Church. Addis wants to talk about drug and alcohol addiction and his approach to curing these ills. Addis leads others who help him operate a home on Gallatin Avenue for those plagued by poisons.

Use of illegal and prescription drugs in the workplace has declined slowly over the last two decades, but employers spend a lot of money testing their workforces to help protect the safety of workers and the public. Fayette County’s human resource budget has $16,000 allotted for drug testing.

Today, children and teens are inundated with images like drag racing Justin Beiber and twerking Miley Cyrus, who both have admitted to illegal drug use. Several celebrities have succumbed to the drug demons they often battled publicly. But what impact do these images have on youth and how do families combat the pervasiveness of drugs in pop culture.

The following article is part of a continuing series of articles examining the effects of illegal drugs in Fayette County.

Whether it is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle writing about the cocaine and heroin use of the fictional Sherlock Holmes in the late 19th century or rapper Kanye West and others singing about the drug Molly, there have been drug references in popular culture for centuries. 

Fayette County has an increasing problem with drug abuse. A problem that can sometimes be so intense as to find the victim in an overdose state that may lead to death. From 2009 to 2011, Pennsylvania experienced 6,206 drug-induced deaths according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Fayette County had the highest rate of drug overdoses based on the population size.

Police and emergency personnel discuss the recent spike in drug overdoses.

A spongy swab is placed under a person’s tongue so as to collect enough saliva to test if drugs are present. The Fayette County Juvenile Probation office uses such tests to screen for alcohol, marijuana, heroin among other drugs.

Pharm parties, hyped over the last decade as a trend among teens for sharing prescription drugs in a party setting, have been a cause for debate and concern. Skeptics believe the term pharm party was created and largely over-hyped by the media. Critics say teens sharing random prescription medications from a communal bowl isn’t common, but the fact remains, teens are abusing prescription drugs at a greater rate than ever.

With two treatment courts addressing criminal behavior related to mental health and veterans’ issues, Fayette County is poised to add an additional program to put criminals with substance abuse problems on the track to a better future.

A new worker is hired and it appears he or she will fit in nicely with the other employees. Yet within a few weeks they are frequently calling in sick or not meeting deadlines.

The once cheery employee is now gruff with customers, forgetting routine duties and making the workday miserable for their co-workers.

With the rise of illegal drug use in recent decades after a lull following a peak in the late 1960s, drug testing has become a part of American culture.

“Instead of saying no, I let someone stick a syringe in my arm.” That began George Britt’s journey through heroin addiction. Following more than two decades of drug use, the 62-year-old Fayette County man has witnessed first hand the destruction and desolation left behind by heroin use. 

From July 2012 through June 2013, Uniontown Hospital, the only hospital in Fayette County that provides obstetrical services, saw 1,037 babies born in the Family Beginnings Birthing Center. About 30 percent -- more than 300 of those babies -- were born addicted to drugs, according to the center’s clinical director, Lea Walls.

When Christina Upole adopted her son Tristan seven years ago, she said, “He was the most severely drug-addicted baby I ever saw.” Through a friend of a friend, Upole became aware of a pregnant prostitute in Masontown who was addicted to crack and who wanted to give up custodial rights to the baby she was carrying. The adoption was arranged privately.

Anyone who has ever been seduced by chemicals knows the feeling -– the choice of quitting becomes harder and harder until life is measured more by irresponsible choices made to feed that addiction. Self-deception about the ability to quit, that it’s not a habit, prolongs the high until users seek help, possibly from places such as the Fayette County Drug and Alcohol Commission.

In Fayette County, there are several illegal drugs that are trending, with heroin at the top of the list.