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DUPONT — When Matthew Vough took a seat on Luzerne County Council, he vowed to travel throughout the county meeting with communities while enlisting the help of medical and law enforcement professionals.
In conjunction with the Dupont Crime Watch, Vough delivered on his promise by holding the first of many “Opioid Awareness Forum” presentation at the VFW Dupont Post Tuesday evening.
“This epidemic sees no barriers,” Vough said to a crowd of over 50 people. “It doesn’t discriminate. It affects all races, creeds, genders and socio-economic backgrounds.”
Often people say they started on prescription drugs, and once their prescription ran out they turned to heroine or fentanyl, according to panel member Steven Ross, program administrator of Luzerne County Drug and Alcohol.
The panel moderated by Bob Price, president of the Dupont Crime Watch, featured Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis, District Judge Alexandra Kokura Kravitz, Luzerne County Judge Michael Vough (Vough’s father), Ross, and a representative from the office of U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-Moosic).
“Whether you know it or not, you are the biggest part of the solution,” Ross said to the crowd.
Salavantis said people often come up to her or members of her office seeking information because a loved one or a neighbor suffers from addiction.
“We are trying to put that information and resources in the hands of the people that need it,” she said. “We’ve equipped our law enforcement agencies with that information to help.”
Another concern that attendees brought up were the locations of drug takeback boxes for their unwanted medications.
Ross referred people to www.luzernecounty.org to search for the drug takeback locations.
“Please use these locations,” Ross urged attendees. “It’s the safest way to dispose of these drugs. It’s better then throwing pills or medicine in the garbage or flushing them down the toilet.”
When the floor was opened up for questions, many said the stigma of “it can’t happen to my kid” or “not my son or daughter, they don’t do drugs or alcohol” has to go away.
Judge Vough agreed.
“Sometimes when I am judging defendants they have nowhere to turn because they’ve been kicked out of their house or have been cast away by their families,” he said. “I want people to go to rehab. I don’t want to incarcerate them.
“But in some cases incarceration is the best way to save that person’s life,” he added. “We need to see more beds and halfway houses created for the people to continue their rehab when they are released from prison. I don’t want to see them end up back there. Prevention, education and treatment are the only way to beat this.”
Law enforcement side of opioid epidemic
It’s no secret that fentanyl and heroine have effected the lives of county residents, but members of law enforcement have been doing their best to minimize the damage and cut off shipments of the illegal drugs to the county.
During the forum, Salavantis said authorities seized a large shipment of fentanyl that if it had hit the streets of Hazleton could have killed 2.5 million people.
Dan Mimnaugh, coordinator of the Luzerne County Drug Task Force said that from his experience, fentanyl is making its way to the U.S. from China and Mexico before its been sent domestically.
“Just because you don’t hear it doesn’t mean we aren’t doing anything about it,” Mimnaugh said. “We are doing everything we can.”
Mimnaugh also said county law enforcement has taken a proactive approach by meeting with doctors to discuss the opioid crisis and how both sides can improve combating it.
Vough said he plans on taking the forum on the road. His next stop will be Hazleton, but he has yet to release a date or venue.
“This was an amazing turnout,” Vough said after the meeting. “The fact people came out is a huge deal. The more awareness we raise in the community, the better we are equipped to overcome this crisis.”
