Shawano County is seeing an increase in heroin abuse, similar to other northern Wisconsin counties, detectives with the Sheriff’s Department said at a community meeting Monday.
“This is no longer something that is just going on in Green Bay, Appleton, Milwaukee or Chicago,” Capt. Tom Tuma said to the audience at Shawano Community High School. “This is happening here, and the detectives can tell you what we’re seeing here on a fairly routine basis.
“This one is hitting us right between the eyes right now, just as it is in Oconto County and Marinette County.”
There have been a number of arrests in the western and central parts of the county for heroin use, but it is only a matter of time before law enforcement finds abusers and dealers in the eastern section as well, according to Detective Keith Sorley.
Many heroin users buy 0.05 gram of the drug for $30, but Sorley pointed out that amount is used immediately and is not enough for many addicts.
“We have people in the county who are $150-a-day heroin users just to get ‘normal,’” Sorley said. “If they want to get high after that, they need to spend some more.”
The issue of heroin abuse is a particular concern for Detective Wade Wudtke, who knew a young man who had abused other drugs and tried heroin once. Two vials later, the young man was dead.
Wudtke had the unpleasant task of informing the parents their son was dead.
“To try and explain this to a mother, a father, a sister — that’s probably the hardest part of this job,” Wudtke said. “No one should ever have to bury a child.”
Other drugs are also an issue, according to Tuma. He said deputies and detectives have their hands full dealing with abuse of marijuana, synthetic marijuana, bath salts, prescription drugs and methamphetamine.
Two recent arrests for burglaries stemmed from people stealing to finance their drug addictions, according to Tuma. Although he did not have county statistics, he said 83 percent of property crimes and 78 percent of violent offenses nationally stem from drug abuse.
Statistics were dropping until a few years ago, when the recession hit and budgets for police agencies and school districts started to tighten, and drug-prevention and policing efforts declined, he said.
Marijuana use is a key focus for the Sheriff’s Department, as marijuana tends to be a gateway drug to harder substances, Tuma said. About 6.5 percent of eighth-grade students nationwide have claimed to smoke or use marijuana, and by the time they become high school seniors, that percentage jumps to 22.9.
Abuse of prescription drugs is also a particular problem, with 14.8 percent of high school students claiming they have abused over-the-counter medications.
It is never too early to talk with children about drugs and the consequences of drug abuse, according to Tuma.
“It doesn’t have to be a sit-down — ‘OK, Junior, today we’re going to talk about that Budweiser commercial during the Packers game,’” he said. “Just talk about simply the fact that you should wait until you get older before you start experimenting with stuff. A lot of bad stuff can happen when you start drinking early in life.”
Officer Jody Johnson of the Shawano Police Department agreed, pointing out that parents need to be parents and not friends. She recommended asking frequent questions and keeping a close eye on who their children hang out with and what they do on their off-time.
“Be vigilant. Be nosy. Be a parent,” Johnson said.
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