Posted: 12:00 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015
Agencies ‘need to mobilize’ against heroin epidemic

Heroin Summit in Middletown meant to develop action steps.

By Hannah Poturalski

Staff Writer

MIDDLETOWN — 

More than $1.5 million in government funds were spent responding to the growing heroin problem in Middletown last year, City Manager Doug Adkins said.

Adkins said he asked the city’s public safety forces and health department to calculate for 2014 the city’s direct cost to responding to the heroin problem.

The $1,577,864 spent included over $18,000 for indigent burials of drug overdose deaths; $167,000 spent by the fire department; and $1.3 million for the police department, including patrols, special operations by the narcotics unit and jail corrections, according to Adkins.

He said on top of that 49 people in Middletown died from heroin last year.

“If I put it to you there was a defective product in this community and it killed 50 people and it generated $1.5 million in damages … we would lose our minds,” Adkins said. “We would absolutely stand up and say, ‘No more.’ But heroin is uncomfortable; we don’t like to talk about that.”

In response, the city of Middletown and Atrium Medical Center are holding a Heroin Summit from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday at the hospital. The day-long event is not open to the public because it’s a work session for community stakeholders to set goals and begin developing a community-wide response to dealing with the heroin issue most effectively, Adkins said.

“I believe this will be the most difficult issue I will face this year,” Adkins said. “Heroin is devious, funding is scarce and the damage to our community is almost beyond calculation.”

Adkins said when he started in 2005 as the city prosecutor, he would come into the office on a Monday to find about 20 people in jail from over the weekend. He said only about three cases were felony crimes.

“Then heroin resurged in this community, and if we come in on a Monday morning now, there are 30-35 in jail and over 20 of them are felonies, almost all related to drug abuse and drug addiction in this community,” Adkins said.

He said the $1.5 million spent responding to heroin kept the city from paving an additional six miles of roadways and putting more public safety people on the streets.

Adkins said the Heroin Summit will include stakeholders from city government, police and fire, the prosecutor’s office, the courts system, health care providers, education, business and religious communities, and civic and social groups. State Rep. Tim Derickson (R-Hanover Twp.) is also scheduled to appear.

Tina Gregory, nursing director of Atrium’s emergency department and behavioral health unit, said she’s hoping the multi-disciplinary agencies will be able to collaborate to develop action steps.

“It’s not a problem one piece of the puzzle will solve,” Gregory said. “We need to mobilize against this.”

Gregory said the Middletown hospital has felt the same burden from the heroin problem as hospitals and communities across Ohio. From 2000 to 2012, there’s been a 366 percent increase in drug overdose deaths in Ohio, according to Gregory.

“We see patients with heroin problems several times a week,” she said.

During a 24-hour period in the first week of January, Gregory said Atrium treated 14 heroin overdoses and, surprisingly, none of them resulted in a death.

“People though are dying,” Gregory said.

In the first three months of 2014, Butler County had 50 drug overdose deaths — a 139 percent increase over the same period in 2013, according to Gregory.

During the entire 2014, Middletown alone had 49 heroin deaths and another seven pending the final coroner report, Adkins said.

Gregory said men and women between the ages of 25 and 34 are at the highest risk for a fatal drug overdose.

“We have stigmas that we put with drug abuse. … Drug addicts are bad people; people addicted to drugs must come from dysfunctional families; heroin addiction is a character flaw,” Adkins said. “I will be the first to say those addicted to drugs are responsible for their choices and their behavior, but I will also say I’ve spent enough time talking to medical professionals … to say that when heroin addiction takes control of a person, it is now a chronic medical condition.”

Adkins said 40-60 percent of drug addicts will relapse.

Gregory said it’s “such an intense use of resources” for emergency medical responders, police and fire, and hospitals to respond to and treat heroin use. She said the medical costs are “outstanding.”

“There are so many other collateral effects,” Gregory said. “People losing jobs, family factors, children in foster care, the emotional piece.”

Gregory said Atrium recently received $11,000 in grant funds to obtain 150 Narcan kits, that include the drug used to reverse the effects of an overdose and educational materials. She said doctors at the hospital will prescribe the kits — valued at $72 each — to patients that could benefit, as well as help educate family members.

Efforts across Butler County to get a handle on the growing heroin problem have included formation of a county-wide opiate abuse task force; development of a Youth Heroin Prevention Initiative by Butler County Prosecutor Mike Gmoser; formation of Heroin Control, a group for family members of addicts; and Hope Over Heroin rallies.

Gmoser said he’s visited students in Hamilton and Trenton schools alongside a handful of recovering heroin addicts that share their personal experiences with the students. He said a 54-year-old woman shared her story of once being a high school cheerleader but has since lost two husbands to her heroin use.

“The superintendents and principals were really quite amazed how quiet the audience was during the speaker,” Gmoser said. “Usually, there’s always a rustling, but during this program, (the students) were riveted.”

Gmoser said he believes it’s most effective to catch the young person before they start experimenting with highly-addictive drugs.

By the Numbers

The city of Middletown in 2014 spent over $1.5 million* in direct response to heroin use.

$1,280,387 spent by Middletown Division of Police for dispatch, patrol, detectives, special operations (narcotics unit), jail corrections and police records

$167,000 spent by Middletown Division of Fire

$112,224 spent by Middletown Municipal Court on criminal and civil eviction cases

$18,253 spent on indigent burials for overdoses

$1,577,864 total spent in 2014

Source: Middletown City Manager Doug Adkins

*The exact numbers are difficult to calculate. Each department attempted to capture their direct calls for service and quantify the costs associated with their response.

 

Posted: 7:04 p.m. Monday, Jan. 26, 2015

Leaders share ideas to tackle heroin in Middletown

By Rick McCrabb

Staff Writer

MIDDLETOWN — 

    Community leaders hope they took another step toward ending, or at least reducing, the heroin epidemic in the Middletown area.

    About 40 people representing a cross section of the community gathered for six hours Monday at Atrium Medical Center, sharing ideas on how to loosen heroin’s grip that killed 49 people in the city last year, and strained city and public safety budgets. City    Manager Doug Adkins said Middletown spent $1.5 million last year dealing with the affects of heroin, and it’s time to be proactive.

     “We are in this for the long haul,” Adkins told the group at the conclusion of the Heroin Summit, a work session for community stakeholders to set goals and begin developing a community-wide response to dealing with the heroin issue. “This will not be quick. It won’t be three meetings and, ‘Thank God, we solved heroin.’”

    He said if the city can reduce deaths related to heroin by 50 percent that would be “a pretty remarkable accomplishment.”

    Adkins said in 2014 the city spent $1.3 million for the police department, including patrols, special operations by the narcotics unit and jail corrections; $167,000 by the fire department; and more than over $18,000 for indigent burials of drug overdose deaths.

    From 2000 to 2012, there was a 366-percent increase in drug overdose deaths in Ohio, according to state records.

    Jackie Phillips, city health director, said heroin addiction is an epidemic that’s impacted the entire U.S. She said heroin hits harder in communities that face poverty, offer easy access and are located near major cities.

    “We have more of those factors,” she said.

    Adkins said a follow-up meeting is set for Feb. 23 at the hospital and he hopes to continue the momentum that started Monday at the summit, which drew members of the medical community, church and city leaders, business leaders, police and fire officials and elected officials.

    They talked about the importance of prevention, treatment and education. They said the city needs to educate its youth about the dangers associated with heroin, install a centralized phone service to direct those with questions regarding heroin, and open a one-stop center so addicts can receive in- and out-patient treatments.

    “We build jails for these people,” said Mike Gmoser, Butler County prosecutor. “We need to build facilities for these people.”

    Warren County Sheriff Larry Sims said his jail, which is sometimes referred to as a “detox center,” has had success giving inmates shots of Vivitrol, which eliminates the high associated with heroin. He said the inmates receive up to six shots, and the cost a one-month prescription is about $1,200

    “You can only help those who want to be helped,” Phillips said.

    Ron Ward is one of those who wanted helped, he said. Ward, 46, who has been clean from methamphetamine for two years and six months, said he started Celebrate Restoration out of his Middletown home. The goal: Get addicts off the streets and return them to productive lives. He said since last year, he has assisted five addicts, three from Middletown.

    “I just love the city, and I want to see us get better,” he said.

    Marquita Turner, chief nursing officer at Atrium, and Lamar Ferrell, pastor of Berachah Church in Middletown, said prayer is needed, and God is the most powerful remedy.

    “We have to call on this higher being, the healer to fix this problem,” said Turner, who added the “just say no” anti-drug message needs to be more consistent.

    It’s important, she said, to get into the homes of addictive parents and make sure their children don’t make the same decisions.

    Ferrell said since heroin addiction is considered a disease and those impacted need healing, there is something people can do that is free. He’d like for the community to meet once a week, at the same time, the same place, and pray for those shackled by heroin.

    “We will ask God to do the impossible,” Ferrell told the group. “We are dealing with impossible situations, but we are not dealing with a God who is stumped. He’s saying, ‘Trust me.’”

 

Maybe some statistics on the number of heroin users and Sec 8 recipients might shed some light on your hypothesis. Or would that be profiling? Don't know

over the hill wrote: Maybe some statistics on the number of heroin users and Sec 8 recipients might shed some light on your hypothesis. Or would that be profiling? Don't know

Perhaps a breakout between the poor community of Middletown as to heroin users as compared to a more upscale community with a higher class resident clientele and less low income/ Section 8 such as Lebanon and go even higher by throwing in a Mason or West Chester may tell us something.

Incidences by city as to Narcan administration frequency, theft numbers by drug addicts and heroin city deaths may tell us whether the low income/Section 8 influence directly relates to heroin use as it applies to the status of a town's economic level. Dunno.

I thinks its great that so many people on this site have great OPINIONS/IDEAS about all subjects city related.  Why don't all of you get out from behind your computer monitors and get in touch with Mr. Adkins and let him know how you the tax paying citizens of MIddletown can solve all of the currant/future problems.  

People were shouting from the roof tops to please listen to the people before you empty our coffers on pet projects downtown, before they decided to get in the real estate business, before the Sec8 fiasco. Many of us have been before council on various issues. They chose NOT to listen to common sense, that doing what was best for the ENTIRE city instead of a chosen few would bring more rewards in the long run. Maybe council might want to read a few suggestions that have been posted here on this blog. JMO

MIDDPROUD:

Simple answer as to why we don't all march into Adkin's office or address council......They don't want to hear from us. We are the enemy in their opinion. Some of us have attended a council meeting or two and have addressed council for our three minutes of fame. We, of course, were stopped exactly at the three minute mark by Mayor Lawrence Mulligan (one of the problem children by the way) as they didn't like what they were hearing. If we were supportive of their ideas, we would have been able to speak as long as we wanted as it helped massage their egos as the city supporters do. Many glossy, embellished, rosy presentations from the friends of city hall have been made in front of council and they get all giddy with delight as the glowing remarks are laid upon them. Not so when we show up.

No, like you have done, the city puppets and their supporters can read this forum and some do. They even enlist their blind, easily swayed hacks here to attempt to intimidate, anger and frustrate us at times. The school board does it too, usually during levy time. Doesn't work. All that happens is that the city supporters incur our wrath here, we are accused of not going along with the program which is a cluster and the verbal sparing between them and us usually ends up in a stalemate. Factual data has been presented here when the city does something stupid, usually on a frequent basis. Doesn't do any good. The city plants pay no attention to factual data as they attempt to twist and distort our positions against the stupidity.

Usually, nothing is resolved here. Just a place to vent frustrations as we all know it is a waste of time trying to talk to them in person.

Factguy wrote: Change? That's what elections are for, and Middletown has elected both new and additional council members and board members repeatedly. The majority of Middletown has changed, through voting, and elected new officials.

That's right Factguy, and we all know what happens around here during election time for council and school board don't we.

The fact is, when it's voting time, we are usually stuck with those who support the current city agenda and are sponsored by the MMF to allow them to continue to have in place those who will take direction from the few, the proud, the inner circle currently controlling things in this town. You know it. Everybody knows it that gives a dam.

We also know that the vast majority of citizens of voting age could care less, are not registered, and wouldn't get their sorry butts off the couch to go punch some buttons at the voting booths. That and there is no one decent, who knows the problems of the city and wants to tackle the dominant voting block in town to win a seat on council or the school board. When a person out of the club has announced their intention to run, the wheels are set in motion to eliminate the threat as the MMF pulls from their supply of yes people to dilute the vote, spreading the paltry amount of votes over many candidates with one of their many winning the seat. We know that is the way it works here.

Basically, this is the reason we are stuck with the same old faces who rotate between the school board, council and some of the many committees in town. Ann Mort is a perfect example of the roving candidate as she has been in many positions, some won by election and some by appointment. Look at Tyus on the school board. He was defeated and still came back by appointment. Keep the same faces in the controlling elected positions to continue the game plan in place that continues to drive the city/schools in the downward spiral it has been in the last four decades. Unless you have lived here during that time span and before the destruction started, you don't know the whole situation and can't make a comparison of then and now.

Factguy wrote: Admittedly, you stated there were legitimate elections. These elections were won by candidates honestly. Moreover, you have admitted by elections, your opinions are of the minority of those working and living in Middletown, as the outcome of elections has been supportive of candidates running for office, whom I add, represent the majority of their constituents. Moreover, you have admitted by elections, your opinions are of the minority of those working and living in Middletown, as the outcome of elections has been supportive of candidates running for office, whom I add, represent the majority of their constituents.. You are therefore complaining because you are a minority.

"Moreover, you have admitted by elections, your opinions are of the minority of those working and living in Middletown, as the outcome of elections has been supportive of candidates running for office, whom I add, represent the majority of their constituents."

I have admitted nothing of the kind.

Do you really think that the election of the current crop of puppet candidates represents the wishes of the majority of the people in this city? On the contrary, the election of the current group of council and school board members represents a very small faction of inner circle interests sponsored by the MMF, sanctioned by the city building people and rubber stamped to publicly keep the program moving legally by these council people. Council people aren't required to be independent thinkers. No need. They are directed by the Mulligans, Ken Cohen and the others on the MMF board and other "movers and shakers" who have their special agendas which do not include the majority.   

How in the hell did you arrive at that conclusion? The elections were won by candidates who were not challenged, had the financial backing of the MMF , inner sanctum of city building supporters and the voting block that shows at every election to keep the MMF kingdom intact. It doesn't take a large voter turnout to have the MMF candidates win. That is due to the non-involvement of the majority of potential voters here. The size of your MMF voter block is sufficient to beat any outsider candidate. Past elections have proven this. If more of those who remain silent and disinterested in change would register and vote these MMF candidates out of office and vote for those who run who wish to end the current cluster, the direction of this city would change for the better. You and your buddies are safe as that scenario will never happen. Your pals are banking on the apathy to continue your quest to total the town. Makes it easy for you and all who think as you do to win.

No, I'm frustrated because there is never a serious challenge put forth to oust the people that you support. I want a housecleaning on council, the school board and the city building. Those in office are not good for this city and it shows. Just open your eyes for once and see the results of their ideas. The city/schools are a shadow of their former selves and the city is posturing on ghetto status.

Where to begin.

Factguy:

"The majority of voters elected the current council and board of election members by a large number of voters and outcomes representing 75% or greater and somehow that represents a minority? That defies logic and factual objectivity"

To restate your post. The majority of the current voters, DEFINED AS BEING THE MMF VOTING BLOCK WHO VOTE FOR MMF CANDIDATES CURRENTLY PROVIDING A STRANGLEHOLD ON THE OFFICE POSITIONS HERE, ARE IN THE MINORITY as to TOTAL POTENTIAL VOTERS THAT COULD PARTICIPATE. In other words, Factguy, because of the non-participation of the vast majority of TOTAL POTENTIAL voters in this city who may back the non MMF candidate, the relatively small MMF voting block (again, as compared to the POTENTIAL NUMBERS THAT COULD BE VOTING), having a large turnout, always has the winner in the elections.

That does not defy logic nor factual objectivity.

Factguy:

"The problems in Middletown began many years ago, and long before the present city council and board of education elected officials came to power. These hard working and dedicated individuals did not cause the decline in Middletown"

Let's restate this also.

The problems in Middletown began many years ago and long before the present city council and board of ed. elected officials came to power.

So far so good.

Here is where you are wrong.

"These hard working and dedicated individuals DID NOT CAUSE THE DECLINE IN MIDDLETOWN."

WRONG!

These "hard working and dedicated individuals" DID CONTRIBUTE AS MUCH AS ANY OTHERS WHO PRECEDED THEM IN THE DESTRUCTION OF THE CITY AND SCHOOLS. They continued the downward trend and added a few wrinkles of their own to add to the misery that is now the norm here. God man, just look at the crime, the drugs, the streets, the low housing values, the stale low paying job's available here, the almost non-existent economic development, the pathetic attempts to make the downtown work, the Section 8 blight, the image issues, the general malaise of the city as it gives the impression of a dirty, deserted, "lack of life", hopeless theme. The streets are deserted and the life has been sucked right out of this town. You don't see that and if not, what in the hell are you looking at? The schools are no better. They are at the bottom of the list as to desirability, academics, have gone downhill in sports as the consistency of winning in football and basketball, once a given here, has eroded to a middle to lower echelon affair.

Factguy:

"Conversely, they attempted to rid the city of section 8, that the majority of musa desired to be cut"

You're kidding right? THEY were the perpetrators of the increase in Section 8. THEY get NO CREDIT for trying to repair what they created. The creators of the problem are not to be placed on a pedestal for suddenly realizing what we here have known for years.....IE, that the oversaturation of Section 8 was bad for the city. C'Mon Factguy. These people aren't heroes. They are to be villified for the low income/Section 8 carnage they created.

Factguy:

"They paved almost all major roads"

Hell, they haven't even got a good start as yet. Mercy.

Factguy:

"They expanded education possibilities with Cincinnati State, and slowly but methodically, have the building blocks to re-store downtown Middletown"

Both CS and the downtown have yet to show any measurable eye-opening success and you know it. CS has LOST STUDENT ENROLLMENT. The downtown is constantly in flux with people in and out of the buildings down there and if it weren't for the boost in taxpayer handouts down there, it would be even worse as to occupancy and interest. No, Factguy. The downtown is still trying to restart, even after millions have been thrown at it. It is as big a white elephant as the City Center Mall was.

Factguy:

"If Middletown is to succeed, it MUST have a downtown offering many amenities to residents and busineses."

Probably the dumbest statement you have made so far. The downtown died in 1958 with the advent of the Middletown Shopping Center and the eastward movement as the desired place to be back then. The east and northeast sides have been the activity spots for decades and still is. Look at the traffic and activity out around Kroger, Lowes, Wal-Mart, and the area around Applebees. Then look, on any given day, at the activity down at Broad and Central, the "hub" of the city activity. No comparison, even after years of development concentration at that downtown location.

So, I find it amazing that you would make a statement that if Middletown is to succeed, it must have a downtown. The downtown dies decades ago and life, shopping, meeting people's needs and interest still went on. It went on out in the east end where it continues today.

We don't need your dam downtown to survive. It is only you and people like you who think the answer is down there. Hate to disappoint you. It hasn't been for years. You and your downtown buddies remain in a trance as you attempt to protect those on S. Main St. as you are directed to do by those who live and are on the board of the MMF.

The "must have a vibrant downtown" argument is something from an Urban Planning textbook of the 1970's. Look at West Chester, look at Springboro, Mason, etc. These areas thrive and it has nothing to do with a downtown. In many of the successful areas, there is no downtown to speak of or, if there is one, it is small and inconsequential. Add in the fact the Middletown's downtown is 6-7 miles off the interstate and is not even part of a vibrant throughway i.e. Tylersville, Cin-Day Rd, Route 42, Route 741, etc.

Where to begin.

The majority of voters elected the current council and board of election members by a large number of voters and outcomes representing 75% or greater and somehow that represents a minority? That defies logic and factual objectivity.  Re-litigating past elections on desired results does not change elected officials won by the majority of voters. If the votes don't represent the majority of voters and desires, are you suggesting in any given election cycle, if 100% of those registered don't vote, the election results are tainted, or not real? If so, every elected official in the nation using your logic, was elected by a minority, your minority, and you want a mulligan, a do-over.  

The problems in Middletown began many years ago, and long before the present city council and board of education elected officials came to power. These hard working and dedicated individuals did not cause the decline in Middletown. Conversely, they attempted to rid the city of section 8, that the majority of musa desired to be cut. They paved almost all major roads, extended the area east of 75. They expanded education possibilities with Cincinnati State, and slowly but methodically, have the building blocks to re-store downtown Middletown. There is not an urban planner or public study that doesn't reveal the direct success a city or municipality has, or doesn't have, with a robust thriving city. If Middletown is to succeed, it MUST have a downtown offering many amenities to residents and busineses.

Well Factguy let us start here....Notice date and players of this action

 Posted: 01 Sep 2009 at 7:07am

We need a meeting ASAP! 

    Tonight at the council meeting Mr. Adkins will be unveiling his new HUD plan for the City of Middletown that will forever change the way HUD funds can be used in Middletown. Because of all the HUD - Section 8 housing the income level of Middletown is now 54% low to moderate and therefore the Council can now declare the entire City of Middletown as a “SLUM AND BLIGHTED AREA”. If the entire City of Middletown is declared a “SLUM” then all HUD Money will not be restricted to designated areas as before. (Wards 1 & 2) Now ALL the HUD FUNDS can be used anyplace in the City that Council desires without any controls what so ever. 
    We the people will have no voice as to where we want these funds to be used.
    I spoke with Anita Scott Jones last night and she confirmed that this is the new plan for Middletown.