CLARION, Pa. (EYT) – Clarion University will host a state public hearing on Tuesday, August 19, starting at 8:30 a.m. on the increased use of heroin and other drugs in rural Pennsylvania.

The Center for Rural Pennsylvania is holding a series of four public hearings, and Clarion is the last of the series. The Center is soliciting testimony for the hearings and hopes to use the information gained at the hearings to help develop legislative policies that may help to curb the use of narcotics.

“The reason for these hearings is that this is clearly a health epidemic that is facing the Commonwealth as a whole and particularly rural Pennsylvania,” said Center Director Barry Denk. “The numbers are startling in terms of overdoses and deaths. Berks County alone at the beginning of this calendar year has had 32 deaths from overdoses, more than they’ve had traffic deaths. The alarm has been sounded that this is a major issue in the Commonwealth.”

Clarion was selected as a site for the hearing after Clarion University President Karen Whitney, a Center board member, invited the group to campus. The Center will also hold its summer public board meeting on Monday, August 18, in Clarion.

“Clarion was kind of a natural fit in terms of the connection with President Whitney, but we also wanted to hold a hearing up in the northwestern section of the Commonwealth,” said Denk. “We wanted to be geographically sensitive to rural Pennsylvania and rural parts of Pennsylvania, so that we could get input from different areas and different people on the subject matter.”

Hearings were also held on July 9 in Williamsport and July 22 in Berks County. The third hearing will be held on Friday, August 5, in Loretto at Saint Francis University.

The number of fatal heroin overdoses has been increasing in Pennsylvania. According to a 2014 report from the Pennsylvania State Coroners Association, there were 45 reported heroin deaths in 2009 and 124 reported heroin deaths by mid-2013.

“We want to hear what’s going on up in that northwest corner in terms of trafficking and in terms of resources and programs that are in place to deal with this epidemic,” said Denk. “We intend to present the information we gather at the hearings and our research to the General Assembly, so they will consider potential legislation.”

The Center is a legislative agency of the General Assembly with a mandate to look at issues and opportunities throughout Pennsylvania through research, data collection, and analysis or public hearing such as the one planned for Clarion.

“We plan to present our findings about this epidemic from the rural perspective,” said Denk. “If you’re in inner city Philadelphia, it is still a tragedy, and there’s no question about it, in terms to the deaths, the family impacts, etc., but it’s also a fair statement that resources to address these types of problems are a little bit more readily available, accessible for individuals suffering from a substance abuse issue than you’ll find in rural Pennsylvania in terms of treatment centers, detox centers, long-term treatment facilities, or education programs for prevention, etc.”

State Senator Gene Yaw, chairman of the Center, describes the heroin and opiate problem as a public health crisis in rural Pennsylvania.

“Although our focus is on heroin use in rural Pennsylvania, we know addiction has no municipal, county, or state boundaries,” said Yaw. “It is, across the board, a national epidemic impacting residents of every age, race, gender, and socioeconomic background. These hearings will identify what we need to be doing as state officials,” Yaw added.

“The primary question to be answered is what can the State Legislature do to help the fight?”

The Clarion hearing will start at 8:30 a.m. with comments from Yaw and a welcome from Whitney. Testimony is schedule to last until noon, but one of the sessions lasted until 2 p.m. A number of invitations for Clarion have been made, and several confirmations received. The agenda is still being developed, according to Denk, and will likely include law enforcement, medical professionals concerning treatment and prevention, and families who have been touched by the heroin epidemic.

The growth of synthetic drugs, such as bath salts, will also likely be addressed.

“Synthetic drugs, bath salts being one of them, were brought up yesterday at the hearing in Reading that it still remains an issue,” said Denk. “We think we’ll get some information if that is still a challenge in the northwest Pennsylvania. We have heard at both hearing so far from professionals in this field, health and state agencies, that 80 percent of the heroin overdoses can be attributed to people who initially addicted to prescribed medication. Once that script runs out — or they will no longer fill it or whatever the case may be — the person by that point is addicted and needs that fix and they move on to heroin. Heroin is the natural progression, and part of that is because it is so inexpensive. A stamp bag of heroin can be purchased for $10 and is extremely addictive.”

In addition to board business at the Monday meeting, a tour of the Clarion University Grunenwald Science and Technology Center will be held as well as a meeting with the Clarion University Small Business Development Center to discuss economic development.

Holding the hearing and meeting in Clarion is also a return to the home base of two former local legislators responsible for the formation of the Center for Rural Pennsylvania. Denk credited Former State Representative David Wright and former State Senator John Peterson in getting the center up and running.

“We’re 27 years old now, and the second oldest state-level rural policy center in operation,” said Denk. “Much credit goes to David Wright and John Peterson for speaking up for rural Pennsylvania.”