READING, July 22, 2014 – Working to stem the tide of heroin overdoses and deaths in Berks County and throughout the state, Sen. Judy Schwank joined other elected and health officials today to talk about the “Heroin Crisis Facing Pennsylvania.”
The forum, held at the Reading Area Community College, was an opportunity for experts to talk about possible solutions to the heroin problem. The session was the second in a series of four public hearings scheduled by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania.
“Berks County has been wracked by heroin-related deaths and arrests in the past year, including the arrests earlier this summer of 13 Topton-area residents and the deaths of six Kutztown and Brandywine Heights high school graduates since 2013,” Schwank said in her opening statement. “Between 2009 and last year, 58 overdose deaths were reported in Berks County, spiking in 2011 at 16 and last year at 15, but none of them were heroin-related until this year, according to a report by the Pennsylvania Coroners Association.”
Across the commonwealth, Schwank noted an 89 percent increase in overall drug-overdose deaths since 1999.
Heroin’s affordability is one of the biggest problems, Schwank said.
“A typical bag that used to be $20 six years ago can be bought today in New York for $4 or even $2,” the senator said. “Rural areas in Berks and nearby face the issue of easy access to such several major metropolitan areas. In particular, Berks lies along the I-78 corridor.”
The Senate adopted legislation in May that would provide for prescription drug monitoring. Sen. Schwank, who voted for SB 1180, said the registry would increase the quality of patient care and help law enforcement agencies prevent fraud and drug abuse, and eventually help to curtail heroin use.
“Heroin is not subject to this registry, but victims have often turned to it after becoming addicted, to more costly prescriptive medications, and it is deadly because it’s purity level varies,” she said.
State Sens. Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming) and the chairman of the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, Scott Wagner (R-York), and John Wozniak (D-Cambria) attended the heroin crisis forum, as did state Rep. Jerry Knowles (R-Berks).
Other forum participants included: PA Deptartment of Drug and Alcohol Programs Secretary Gary Tennis; Deb Beck, executive director, Drug & Alcohol Service Providers Organization of Pennsylvania; Phil Bauer, a parent who advocates for prescription drug safety; Linda Texter, director of the Reading Hospital Drug and Alcohol Center; George J. Vogel, executive director, Council on Chemical Abuse; Christine Gilfillan, associate director, Berks Women In Crisis; Kutztown Mayor Sandy Green; Brandywine Heights Area School District Superintendent Andrew M. Potteiger; Alison Snyder, personnel director, East Penn Manufacturing Co. Inc.; Dr. Gregory K. Sorensen, chief medical officer, Reading Health System; Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams; Michael J. Gombar – chief Berks County detective; Schuylkill County District Attorney Christine A. Holman; Berks County Court of Common Pleas Judge Scott D. Keller; and Berks County Magisterial District Judge Dean Patton.
The center will hold its next hearing at 9 a.m., Tuesday, Aug. 5, at St. Francis University in Loretto. Its final hearing, 8:30 a.m., Aug. 22, will be held at Clarion University.
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More information on Sen. Schwank is available on her website, Facebook and Twitter.