War on drugs
Addicts are “trash to be taken out” The recent fourth forum in the “CSI: Fayette County – Crime Subjects Investigated” series was an unquestioned success.
The evening featured four excellent panelists: state police Lt. David Heckman, commander of the Uniontown station; Fayette County District Attorney Jack R. Heneks Jr.; Penn State Fayette, the Eberly Campus nursing instructor Damien Zsiros and Brian Reese, treatment supervisor at the Fayette County Drug and Alcohol Commission.
This forum’s focus was on illegal drug activity and all of the speakers deserve high praise for their informative, interesting insight into the war on drugs in the county.
Heckman and Heneks were particularly impressive as they shared many of the insights they’ve gained over the years in the battle against drugs.
In fact, we were especially impressed by Heckman’s analogy that the war on drugs – which at times seems endless – was much the same as taking out the garbage.
“If you don’t take the trash out every week, it’s going to pile up,” said Heckman, who directed a five-county state police vice unit for nearly a decade, and discussed law enforcement’s efforts to try and combat the use and sale of illegal drugs.
For those who think little is being done to combat drugs, imagine how bad it would be if the police refused to “take out the trash.”
The war on drugs may not “end” in some people’s eyes, but we feel Heckman helped to explain that police are making progress nonetheless. For those in attendance, the analogy was an inspired way of making the challenge relatable, which is exactly what we had envisioned when planning these forums.
In fact, much of the value in this forum was in the panelists’ ability to explain what really goes into combating illegal drugs, which is important since Heckman stressed that the majority of crime committed in Fayette County is drug related, and affects everyone not just drug users and dealers.
Heneks did a superb job of explaining how the Fayette County Drug Task Force is constituted and operates and put in concrete terms just how 80 percent of all criminal cases the district attorney’s office deals with on a monthly basis are drug related in some way.
“The amount and influence drugs have on criminal prosecution is immense,” Heneks said, adding that a drug investigation is a painstaking process that takes time. “In many ways, it’s a never-ending, thankless job,” he noted.
For those who may not realize all that’s being put into the fight against drugs, this was invaluable insight.
But it wasn’t just law enforcement on display. Zsiros talked about the toll drugs take on the health care system. He noted that money spent on treating those addicted to drugs and their subsequent health problems is tremendous and certainly could be used in many other ways if there weren’t so many people using illegal substances.
Reese explained that the Fayette County Drug and Alcohol Commission offers several therapy and treatment options, but pointed out that prevention is the key toward at least reducing the drug problem. In that vein, he said the agency has started several programs working with the youth of the county in hopes of trying to show them alternatives to using drugs.
Credit also goes to those in attendance for coming out and taking part in the forum.
It was obvious from the questions asked that people were sincerely seeking answers as to how they can deal with the drug problem.
All in all it was a very informative session and those who attended certainly gained a better understanding of one of the biggest problems facing local residents. And that’s certainly the reason behind the Herald-Standard sponsoring the forums.