HEROIN'S GRIP ON COUNTY IS TIGHT

Westmoreland County detectives Tony Marcocci and Terry Kuhns know an easy
way to stop the heroin epidemic plaguing western Pennsylvania.

"Never start using it," Marcocci said.

"Don't try it," Kuhns added. "Don't try it once."

Of course, the two detectives with a combined 35 years in drug enforcement
realize their answer is too simple, not practical.

But once people get hooked on heroin, their chances of getting off the drug
permanently are slim, the detectives maintained. At least that is their
experience.

And the two detectives, joined by Detective Ray Dupilka of the Latrobe
police department, said as much when Marcocci testified last week before
the U.S. House Committee on Government Reform.

"I've never known anyone who's been addicted to heroin and has been able to
keep clean and maintain staying free of substance abuse for an extended
period of time," Marcocci said. "We've seen individuals come out of detox
or rehabilitation centers and have managed to stay substance-free for a
period of time. But inevitably, they will go back."

That is what makes heroin different from other drugs: its hold.

And it is killing people. So far in Westmoreland County, 12 people have
died because of heroin this year, according to the county Coroner's office.
In southwestern Pennsylvania, heroin has been responsible for more than 80
deaths in 2002.

"We've known hundreds of individuals who have smoked marijuana daily. They
now lead productive lives," Marcocci said. "And we've know hundreds of
people who were addicted to powdered cocaine who cleaned themselves up and
walked away from that addiction. They've been clean 10, 15 years with no
desire to go back to cocaine. Crack cocaine, we've known of some.

"But heroin, we've not seen it. It seems like they seek it out at some
point in their lives."

Despite this finding, the detectives still recommend treatment for heroin
addicts they encounter. They see no other recourse once the users are
hooked. And they always hope someone can prove them wrong about not being
able to get off the drug.

"Are there other people who have beat the habit? I'm sure there are," Kuhns
said. "But I'm saying, we don't know any addicts who have stayed off."

"We're not saying you can't beat heroin. We're not saying that. We just
haven't seen it," Marcocci added.

At the congressional hearing, Marcocci read a statement that he and the two
other detectives prepared. A question-and-answer session followed during
the two-hour session, with two more panels later testifying.

"I think we were taken a little aback that Congress would be looking at our
office and allow us to come in and express our views. We were happy,"
Marcocci said.

"It was nice to be recognized for the quality of the investigations,"
Dupilka said. "But on the same hand, we're being recognized because of the
problem we have in the area."

In Westmoreland County, so many people are currently using heroin that
Marcocci and Kuhns said they can't name them all. Back in 1988, when heroin
was used mostly by junkies in large cities, the detectives said they could
identify pretty much every heroin user in Westmoreland County.

Much of the drug supply in Westmoreland County is focused along the Route
30 corridor. Most of the heroin in Westmoreland County comes from
Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, the detectives said. And most of the
Pittsburgh dealers get their supply from Philadelphia, the primary market
in Pennsylvania, according to the National Drug Intelligence Center.

South America, particularly Columbia, is the main source of heroin in the
United States, according to federal sources. Prior to 1990, Asian heroin
was predominate in the Philadelphia area, according to NDIC.

But then Columbia flooded the Philadelphia market with a very pure form of
heroin. As availability increased, the price dropped, making it easier to
obtain in Pennsylvania communities both small and large, NDIC said.

The greater concentration also allowed new users to snort - and in some
cases - smoke the drug. The concentration of the drug, and not having to
inject it the first time someone tries it, made the heroin problem grow
dramatically, health officials said.

"I've interviewed so many people who have said that if they had to use a
needle that first day, they'd never use it, because it would gross them
out," Marcocci said.

Several other reasons have contributed to heroin's increased use, including
low price and availability.

Robin Boggio, an analyst with the national drug center, said a big reason
for heroin's spread to the suburbs can be linked to friends. Friends get
friends hooked so there is a constant source of income to supply a drug
habit, she said.

Columbia was the focus of the House hearing.

Adrian Plesha, an aide to U.S. Rep. Pete Session, a Texas Republican on the
government reform committee, said the panel's GOP majority believes the
main way to stop the heroin problem is to destroy the opium crops from
which heroin is derived.

"It's our opinion, and the majority of the committee, that you clearly need
rehabilitation, but you have to also have eradication," Plesha said. "The
key is eradication and putting drug dealers out of business."

Marcocci, Kuhns and Dupilka agree.

"My view - our view on it - we're attempting to combat it now on the
streets, in our communities, and we're failing," Marcocci said. "There's
still too much heroin getting out on the street, too many kids addicted to
it, too many deaths, too many families' lives being altered by it.

"If you eliminated it at the source country, some will still probably get
in, but at a smaller amount. Plus, it will drive the price way up. It's
just simple price and demand. Right now too many young kids are able to
afford it."

At the hearing, law enforcement officials from New York, Maine and Maryland
also testified. They all noted that besides deaths, heroin use leads to
other crimes.

"The other communities were separated by hundreds of miles, but they're
seeing the ancillary crimes: the burglaries, the bad checks that are
related to heroin addiction," Dupilka said.

The detectives' involvement at the hearing came after Plesha, a former
Westmoreland County resident, saw an article in the Miami Herald last
month. That story, which was inspired by articles in the Tribune-Review and
other media, recounted the spread and toll of heroin in Westmoreland County.

"I was shocked," Plesha said, recounting the article.

He recalled a different Westmoreland County. It was a place where the word
heroin was mentioned only as a problem in other places.

At worst, as he read, Plesha expected to learn that heroin was present in
economically struggling cities in Westmoreland County - those that had drug
problems when he lived in western Pennsylvania.

"But it wasn't," Plesha said. The drug was in Greensburg, Latrobe, Derry
Township - and spreading.

In the article, Plesha saw Marcocci's name. He contacted the detective, and
they met Nov. 22.

"At the end of the meeting, I said, 'Would you be willing to testify?' He
said absolutely," Plesha said.

The detectives said being at the hearing was quite an experience, and they
were impressed with the panel's knowledge about heroin.

"It gives us a good feeling that a high level of government would be
interested in our opinion," Kuhns said. "And it was obvious somebody was
doing their homework."

Marcocci agreed.

"It was a different experience, being in one of the hearing rooms, seeing
our national government at work, and being a part of it," he said.