When it comes to kids, drugs and addiction, parents need to be parents, not friends.

That was the message Wednesday night, when the Westmoreland County Department of Juvenile Probation, with the assistance of county juvenile court Judge Michele Bononi, presented a Substance Abuse Forum & Education (S.A.F.E.) at Penn State New Kensington in Upper Burrell.

Parents concerned about the effects in the Alle-Kiski Valley of a nationwide opioid epidemic gathered in the school's theater to ask questions of law enforcement, court officials and those with firsthand experience dealing with addiction.

Presentations included a demonstration of how a drug dog looks for illicit substances and a display of several dozen stamp bags of heroin as an example of what parents should be looking for.

Westmoreland County Detective Tony Marcocci spoke as school resource officers walked around the room, showing parents and children small, powder-filled packets.

“This is heroin,” he said. “If you see heroin in our community, this is the way it will be packaged — these are called stamp bags, and you hear about them on the news every night.”

Marcocci said he has met parents who have found stamp bags but didn't know what they were. He then provided the all-too-real statistics.

“Last year in Westmoreland County, we lost 171 individuals to overdose. Every year it has gone up. This year — we just started March — we're already at 43 overdoses resulting in death in Westmoreland County.

“We're going to have another banner year.”

A cautionary tale

The event closed with a story from Joshua Rimmel, 35, of Vandergrift. Rimmel's was a cautionary tale.

Rimmel is a recovering addict. He said he used drugs since he was a high school student — almost two decades ago.

He's been in and out of jail, but he's been clean for 17 months as of Tuesday.

He is currently enrolled in Westmoreland County's Drug Court Program.

Westmoreland County's drug court was created to help offset the drug epidemic. Participants are chosen by a staff that includes judges, prosecutors, probation officers and drug-treatment professionals.

Once enrolled, addicts are subjected to random drug tests as they work to complete treatment programs, undergo counseling and make regular court appearances.

Rimmel said addiction is in his blood.

“My dad was an alcoholic,” he said. “My drug of choice was heroin. I'm completely helpless, so to speak, when it comes to heroin. It has complete and utter control of my life, when it is in my life.”

Rimmel detailed some of the many things that he regrets he has done because of his addiction.

“I've robbed, stolen — I robbed my own parents.”

The last time he overdosed, his children were present.

“My make-or-break point in life was that I overdosed in my house in Vandergrift,” he said. “My 10- and 8-year-old were in the house.”

It was his stepfather who brought him to the hospital — but not before his 10-year-old found him on the bathroom floor, unconscious.

That overdose eventually landed him jail — but it also led him to rehabilitation.

“The best 72 days of my life,” he said of rehabilitation to the families gathered to hear his story.

Michelle Preskar-Rowe of Lower Burrell and her son, 12-year-old Francis, were one of those families.

Preskar-Rowe said she brought Francis to the forum because there is no denying the fact that opioids have come to her town, and that knowledge is power in the fight against addiction.

“He needs to learn,” she said. “We live in Lower Burrell, on the cusp of New Kensington-Arnold, where we see a lot of this stuff going on.”

Preskar-Rowe said opioids have made their way into Burrell School District in recent years.

“It's in our area, too: we had a senior overdose and die just before graduation last year,” she said.

Bononi said the forum was aimed specifically at helping parents and students who may be encountering this issue for the first time.

“We want to try to educate you concerning how we are involved and what programs are out there,” she said.

“Every day, we hear the story of young lives lost to drugs. While several of my colleagues on the bench have presented panels concerning adults, it was concerning to me ... that we really didn't see anything focusing on the drug problem and kids,” she said.

Matthew Medsger is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-226-4675 or mmedsger@tribweb.com.

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