Are we losing the war on heroin?

Mike Chitwood has seen a lot in a police career that has spanned more than five decades.

But he’s never seen anything like this.

Listen to Chitwood, and you have to ask yourself this fairly depressing question: Are we losing the war on heroin?

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Chitwood said. “I’ve been doing what I’ve been doing for 53 years and I’ve never seen anything like it. And I don’t see an end in sight. I don’t see even an out for the near future.”

The numbers back up the depressing talk.

In recent weeks Chitwood has seen his officers revive six opioid overdose victims in a single 24hour period.

For the first two weeks in June, Upper Darby police and first responders handled 35 overdose victims.

Chitwood was among those who were out front in the use of Narcan, the drug that is administered to overdose victims, often bringing them back to life from the brink of death. But not always. Upper Darby has recorded 23 fatal overdoses since Jan. 1. That’s out of a total of about 150 overdoses. And that’s just in Upper Darby.

“The heroin epidemic is totally out of control,” Chitwood said.

He’s not the only one dismayed at the way the needle is moving. Literally.

Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan has been in the forefront of the push back against the spike in heroin use. He established the region’s first Heroin Task Force. He has pushed for expanded treatment and education programs. He championed ‘Good Samaritan’ legislation that allows someone in the company of someone experiencing an overdose to alert authorities without fear of prosecution. And, of course, he was one of the point persons in getting Narcan into the hands of police and first responders across the state.

And still the numbers continue to go up.

“I really thought we were going to drive the numbers down a couple years ago, but what we’ve seen is just the opposite,” Whelan said. “The numbers have spiked up, the number of people who seem to be addicted and also the number of Naloxone has spiked.”

Chitwood, never one not to speak his mind, thinks he knows part of the reason why.

Heroin victims are revived with Narcan, but too often a lack of treatment facilities means the user is soon heading right back down the path to danger.

Chitwood has long preached a three-pronged approach to battling the heroin epidemic: Education, enforcement and treatment.

He is particularly troubled at the lack of adequate treatment centers, especially for those revived. Too often, even those with insurance get only a 30-day treatment plan. Chitwood maintains that simply is not enough. He believes it does little other than offer a user the chance to dry out. What’s needed is comprehensive treatment.

“Since January of 2016, we have saved 214 lives (with Narcan),” Chitwood said. “If five or six of them got some type of treatment, that’s a lot. They continue to go on the street and use heroin. And this is just here in Upper Darby.”

Chitwood also makes it clear he’s a firm believer in harsher sentences penalties for those dealing drugs, including a fiveyear mandatory minimum, much like that slapped on a person using a gun in the commission of a crime.

There is another factor at play here as well, one often referenced by both law enforcement and health officials. A big chunk of this new heroin scourge is a result of the widespread increase used of prescription painkillers. Too often people with legitimate pain get prescriptions, soon find themselves hooked, then look for a cheaper alternative when their prescription lapses. That leads them to the streets, and the abundance of cheap, powerful heroin.

It’s time the pharmaceutical industry start sharing in the cost of the misery some of their products are creating.

Two cities and two counties, including the city of Chicago, are taking the industry to court. Ohio attorney general Mike DeWine has filed suit against five big pharmaceutical firms, alleging they violated state consumer laws by downplaying the danger of their drugs.

There is no single solution to this heroin epidemic.

But it’s hard to ignore the trends. Consider this: In Pennsylvania, 13 people are dying every day from opioid and heroin overdoses. A recent report from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency shows fatal overdoses in Pennsylvania alone jumped 37 percent between 20015 and 2016, snuffing out 4,642 lives in the process.

It’s not a Delaware County thing. It’s not an urban thing. It knows no ethnic or other socioeconomic boundaries.

It is an equal opportunity menace. It needs a new solution. Just ask Mike Chitwood.