Clinton County's heroin problem is becoming worse, drug task force member says

As part of their continuing education program, Director Deanne Hunter asked Feterick to address the Clinton County Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs) last week. Many of the cases involving child neglect or abuse to which CASAs are assigned involve parents, grandparents or other guardians using drugs.

Feterick described serving a warrant that very day and seizing a couple hundred syringes. He also talked about buying heroin from an Indianapolis individual being investigated – in broad daylight, on a school day, in the Frankfort Walmart parking lot.

The dealer, who also brought a gun, had never been to Frankfort prior to being set up for the drug deal, said Feterick. He was only here because there was a market for his product.

Heroin comes from the opium poppy, usually cultivated in Afghanistan, which also is the basis for morphine and codeine, he explained, adding that most of the illegal opiates and opioids are routed through Mexico and then into the United States.

Dealers are unlikely to drop such a profitable income source that is 100 percent tax-free, he said, and heroin has made a resurgence in the U.S. because of the number of people becoming addicted to prescription pain killers. 

“Where do these people turn when their prescription runs out?” Feterick asked rhetorically. “Heroin is a very attractive option.”

And once someone developed a heroin habit, it’s very difficult for them to overcome it. 

“It’s highly addictive. Its effects are very close to what they get from pain medication. No prescription is required. And it’s cheap,” said Feterick.

“You don’t need a prescription, you just have to know a guy,” he said.

Feterick warned the audience that Clinton County is becoming on par with Fort Wayne and Indianapolis when it comes to the number of local overdose deaths and the number of overdose patients the IU Health Frankfort Hospital emergency room doctors and nurses have saved from dying.

Not only does the epidemic burden the county’s health care systems, it also overwhelms the Department of Child Services and the court system, he said.

Heroin use also is a public health issue because users are at risk of contracting Hepatitis C and HIV, and addicts endanger others because they often turn to violent crime, theft, armed robbery and assault to get their fixes.

To the astonishment of the group, Feterick explained, users may make multiple trips daily to Indianapolis to buy drugs, which they inject on the drive back, putting other motorists and their passengers at risk as well.

When visiting someone’s home, Feterick advised keeping an eye out for scorched spoons, razor blades, mirrors, postal scales and small baggies, which suggest someone is using and/or dealing drugs. If you spy an iconic Crown Royal Canadian Whiskey bag, you’ll usually find drugs and paraphernalia inside.

“They always store their drugs in there,” he said. 

To combat the heroin problem effectively will require widespread community involvement, a unified front, more addiction recovery services, increased access to mental health assistance and ongoing enforcement efforts, said Feterick. 

In the meantime, officers carry naloxone, or Narcan, the antidote to an opioid overdose.

“It’s a band-aid,” Feterick said. “It’s simple to use, and its purpose is to save lives.”