Tour offers dose of the reality of substance abuse

INDIANA--Twenty people in Indiana County died last year of a drug overdose. Local cocaine use has increased by 44 percent in the last four years, while heroin use has leaped an astounding 281 percent in that time span.

"We're not talking about Philadelphia or Pittsburgh. We're talking about Indiana County," notes Vince Mercuri, executive director of The Open Door, a local agency that offers help for those struggling with substance abuse.

A "Reality Tour" program, sponsored by the Armstrong-Indiana Drug and Alcohol Commission, addresses these problems, educating teen-agers about the bottom line when it comes to drug and alcohol use.

The Reality Tour follows the fate of a teenage character who has become addicted to heroin. Tour participants experience the character's arrest and prison sentence, as well as the drama of an emergency room situation and, finally, a funeral home scenario.

According to Mercuri, the Armstrong-Indiana Drug and Alcohol Commission "has worked hard to bring this to the community. They've provided the resources, the funding, the people, the energy."

The most recent tour was held at the Indiana County Courthouse April 25, but the Commission has plans to hold tours on the second Wednesday of each month. Once the new county jail is finished, the tours will move there from the courthouse.

"They say that by age 10 kids start to experiment with drugs," said Jennifer McKendrick, who coordinates the local Reality Tours for the Commission. "So we're trying to get to them before they even begin experimenting. We're gearing it toward the younger crowd."

"The whole idea is to have parents and children understand the finality of the disease of chemical dependence," Mercuri said. "You're really taking your life in your hands. It's like playing Russian roulette."

Officials who participate in the Indiana County tours include Bob Bell, county district attorney, and Susanne Steffee, district judge in Homer City and board president of the Armstrong-Indiana Drug and Alcohol Commission. Both attended earlier Reality Tours in Armstrong County.

"The reality of it was extremely striking," Bell said. He noted he was especially affected by the funeral scene, where tour participants are invited to a mock funeral of a teenager who has "overdosed" on drugs. They are brought through a receiving line to offer condolences to the parents and are asked to sign the guest book.

"It put a lump in my throat," Bell said. "It affected me like that--and I've seen a lot of death. I'm sure it's going to affect children and their parents."

Steffee noted, "For me, my big impact was the jail scene," where participants are placed behind bars to experience the isolation of prison.

"When you hear the click of the door, it brings a whole new reality to you, of what could happen. You can't go anywhere."

The Commission started rehearsals for the program in Indiana County in February, but the April 25 event was the first tour that was open to the public.

According to Bell, there are three important aspects of combating substance abuse: enforcement, treatment and prevention.

"This is part of the prevention phase," he said. "Prevention starts at home. We want parents and children to have an open conversation about drugs and alcohol."

Last week's tour began in one of the county courtrooms, with Bell addressing the audience and explaining what they were about to see.

The crowd watched interactions among a group of students, part of the tour's volunteer cast.

Two of the teens tried to persuade the others to attend a party where parental supervision would be absent and drugs and alcohol would be available.

The others declined the offer, with one of the students responding, "I don't want to ruin my life."

A "drug deal" also took place between two of the youths.

"What you just saw is what your children have to face every day," Bell told the parents in attendance.

The tour group watched a video, "All You Need to Know About Substance Abuse in 22 Minutes," that covered an array of drugs, including alcohol, marijuana, heroin, cocaine, steroids, stimulants and inhalants. (See sidebar.)

"Every drug in that video is something we've had here in Indiana County," Bell remarked.

"Six years ago, there was no heroin at all in Indiana County. Now, we have people dying from it. And drugs today are much more potent and powerful and pure than the drugs of the '60s."

The tour entered its next phase when Indiana County Sheriff Robert Fyock pulled a boy (volunteer David Glance Jr.) out of the crowd, forced him against a wall and patted him down before he was handcuffed and taken from the room.

"Arrested" on a warrant, the boy was next seen as he was led into a jail and placed behind bars. A recorded voice allowed the audience to eavesdrop on the suspect's thoughts of regret.

After his release from the lock-up, the boy recounted an episode where he attended a party and took an unknown drug--and then lapsed into an unresponsive state.

A partition in the room was drawn aside, and the crowd observed as a pair of medical responders attempted to resuscitate Glance. They resorted to shock paddles, to no avail. The boy's distraught parents, played by Carol Morandi and Michael Ciocca, were led away as the medics failed to revive him and the time of death is called.

The scenario reached its ultimate conclusion in a subsequent funeral scene, where soft music played and the parents stood weeping beside a closed coffin.

"What you just saw really happens, and it happens here in this community," Bell told the tour group. He said he's seen people die from their drug use, seen bodies with foam at the mouth, with a needle still protruding from their arm.

"You couldn't do anything worse to your parents than for them to walk into your room and see you that way," he said.

"This is real stuff," Mercuri noted. "There's a price to pay for having that kind of fun. This is all based on real-life situations."

The Open Door of Indiana County has a 24-hour hotline (724-465-2605) that operates seven days a week for those struggling with a drug and alcohol problem, or for those who know someone who is fighting addiction.

Over the past seven years, The Open Door has seen a 35 percent increase in the number of people seeking treatment for drug- and alcohol-related problems. "So we have seen an explosion in the need for services," he said.

Nationwide, 23.2 million people are in need of treatment, according to Mercuri. That translates to one in four people. In Pennsylvania, drugs and alcohol factor into 70 to 80 percent of Children and Youth Services cases.

"We're here to support you, not judge you," Mercuri said of those with a substance problem. "It's about helping people to make good choices."

To close the program, the Commission invited one of its clients, who has been in recovery for more than 20 years, to speak to the crowd.

"Being straight all these years, it's a long process," said the woman, identified only as Rhonda.

Rhonda has three children and works a full-time job in Indiana County. Her eldest daughter is now addicted to heroin. "It happens to good kids," she stated.

Rhonda herself started taking drugs when she was 11 years old, and was an addict by the time she turned 14. She started out by drinking an occasional beer. The next thing she knew, she was drinking hard liquor. Then someone offered her marijuana, which eventually progressed to LSD. She ended up dropping out of high school.

"I just kept making bad choices," she said. "It comes with the addiction."

Rhonda has been straight since her 20s, and she remembers the exact moment she knew she had to stop abusing drugs if she wanted to stay alive.

She was 23 years old and she had just finished taking a hit. "I felt my heart slow down," she recalled. "I knew that the end was near, and I knew right then that I needed to do something."

She emphasized, "You never know when it's going to happen. You never know when the next time will be the last time. "It always looks like fun, but you never know when it's going to hit you."

Having been an addict herself, she now watches as her daughter makes the same bad choices she made when she was younger.

Her voice breaking, she said, "I wait for the phone call, that she's been found dead somewhere. I live with that every day."

Rhonda closed the program with her advice to parents, whose children face peer pressure to use drugs and alcohol every day.

"Talk with your kids," she urged. "You have to be able to recognize the drugs, the signs, the dealers.

"Really communicate. Kids and parents, they need to open those lines of communication and be able to help each other through this. Kids need to feel safe, and feel safe with their parents, be able to discuss anything with them."

Those who are interested in attending or sponsoring an upcoming Reality Tour may contact McKendrick at 724-354-2746. Or log on to aidac.org and follow the link for "Reality Tour registration."

As part of the Reality Tour, the Armstrong-Indiana Drug and Alcohol Commission shows a video called "All You Need to Know About Substance Abuse in 22 Minutes." The following are just a few of the facts and suggestions offered in the video:

• Alcohol is the most used drug in America.

• When someone has consumed too much alcohol and may have alcohol poisoning, he should be placed on his side to ensure that he doesn't choke on his own vomit. Someone should monitor the person's breathing, and stay with him to make sure he doesn't fall asleep.

• Binge drinking is defined as five or more drinks for males and four or more for females.

• Statistics show that 10,000 people per year ages 16-24 die in alcohol-related vehicle accidents.

• Cigarette-related cancers kill 400,000 people per year. Second-hand smoke kills 15,000 people a year.

• Cigarettes contain more than 4,000 chemicals, including 200 known poisons.

• Every day, 3,000 teenagers become smokers.

• Smokers wanting to quit can follow these D's--delay, drink water, do something else and deep breathing.

• Spit or chew tobacco has 10 times more cancer-causing agents than cigarettes. It is the leading cause of oral cancer, which kills 50 percent of its victim within five years.

• Marijuana is the most widely used illegal drug in America. It's a gateway drug--98 percent of those who suffer a fatal drug overdose started by using marijuana.

• Abusing inhalants, otherwise known as sniffing or huffing, can cause permanent brain damage and can kill after just one use.

• Stimulants such as cocaine, amphetamines or methamphetamines speed up the actions of the nervous system.

• Ecstasy, ketamine or "Special K," or "date rape drugs" are also known as club drugs. When at a club, never accept a drink from a stranger.