Agent Ken Mullis with Union Township Police Department and the Clermont County Drug Unit provided this picture of heroin seized from the Piccadilly area of Union Township in 2013. Members of a ‘Bloods’ gang called ‘Get It Quick’ were arrested and sentenced, according to Mullis.

Agent Ken Mullis with Union Township Police Department and the Clermont County Drug Unit provided this picture of heroin seized from the Piccadilly area of Union Township in 2013. Members of a ‘Bloods’ gang called ‘Get It Quick’ were arrested and sentenced, according to Mullis.
By Kristin Rover
Sun staff

Heroin and the struggle to become clean changed Ryan Tarvin’s life forever.

“I started out with tons of friends, good jobs and slowly pissed everything away,” Tarvin said. “Right now I have the least I’ve ever had in my life. Now I am the happiest I have ever been. It’s baffling.”

Tarvin said all addicts deserve a chance at recovery, and he believes that should include sober living.

“Anyone who goes to jail or prison, the best way for them to get out and remain sober is the last six months of their sentence they should be subjected to sober living,” Tarvin said. “They will learn how to live sober.”

Addicts should have a chance at treatment even if they don’t get clean the first time they try, Tarvin said.

Clermont County needs additional resources for heroin addicts including sober living, Karen Scherra, executive director of the Clermont County Mental Health and Recovery Board said.

“There are three aspects,” Scherra said. “One is funding for prevention. If we don’t get a handle on this and stop people from starting we’re never going to get out of this.

“Second is funding for treatment. There is not adequate treatment in this county that is in the realm of sober housing and aftercare. We have to have more of that care in place. I would like to see more peer support…I think that’s really critical,” Scherra said.

Scherra said this funding must come from every level.

“Locally we have great partners,” Scherra said. “The county has gotten involved with the CASC (Community Alternative Sentencing Center) program.”

Scherra said nationally there are also things being done.

“There is legislation currently that would expand federal dollars for this issue,” Scherra said.

From the state, however, Scherra doesn’t feel the support is there.

“There is just not enough state funding in my estimation,” Scherra said.

Thirdly, Scherra said there needs to be more education in the community.

“There are an awful lot of people affected by this that don’t know it’s happening,” Scherra said. “When you think about the loss to businesses and families, the police time, the jail, probation officers, you add that all up and it’s unbelievable. They’re drowning in it. They don’t want people coming back.”

For Clermont County Municipal Court Judge Kevin Miles, 90 percent of his docket is heroin-related.

Cases have increased and thefts have gone through the roof, Miles said.

Miles finds this frustrating because a Municipal Court judge is limited with what programs he can refer people to.

One program he does support and thinks will help is CASC.

“We as the judges are committed to the CASC program,” Miles said. “We need that to help jail overcrowding and get treatment when they’re in there.”

The CASC program is currently transitioning to different management. Miles said he hopes the next organization will do more with follow up and connectivity of services.

“It’s a work in progress,” Miles said. “We’re willing to experiment with things to ultimately help people and save jail beds.

Municipal Court judges are also missing another alternative for offenders, like sober living or faith-based programs, according to Miles.

“We can’t order people to go to faith-based stuff,” Miles said. “There are limited options. Every day it’s a struggle to try to help people. We are just overwhelmed.”

At Common Pleas Court, Judge Jerry McBride said he does have the ability to refer offenders to programs, but said the biggest challenge is the time it takes to find a program that works.

“In terms of dealing with those cases, I think I am dealing with cases longer,” McBride said. “You may have a person come in, I send them to outpatient treatment and they are doing well but come back. It is kind of one case at a time to get impact on that person to get them to stop using.”

It is important to have a variety of resources available so that he can help people with different needs, McBride said.

“Resources have to be available to the treatment agencies,” McBride said. “If they aren’t it puts limitations on what I can do.”

McBride does hear of success stories, but more often he sees people who have success for a short time but need to try again.

“The biggest battle is getting them to have success over a long period of time,” he said. “I think the way you have to approach it is case by case.”

From a law enforcement perspective, Agent Ken Mullis with the Clermont County Drug Unit and Union Township Police Department said police need stricter laws for drug traffickers to help keep heroin from coming into the county at such a rapid pace.

“We try to target the traffickers bringing it in and distributing it,” Mullis said. “The majority of the dealers don’t have an addiction problem, it’s their rules. Our biggest thing is if they aren’t addicts and bringing wholesale drugs in, their punishment should be stricter.”

Officials from many agencies like police departments, hospitals and the court system have been working together as part of the Clermont County Opiate Task Force to discuss the challenges and have a plan for moving forward. Other organizations and groups are doing similar things in individual communities.

With all of the challenges, it is hard to think positive when it comes to the heroin epidemic, Scherra said.

“The other thing we’re sometimes missing is we still have to be hopeful,” Scherra said. “We do have people in recovery. We’re not going to give up and we’re going to keep trying.”

Tarvin’s journey is not over but he has celebrated one year of being clean.

“Every day when I get up, I have to honestly say to myself ‘today I am not getting high no matter what,'” Tarvin said.

After spending six months in sober living, Tarvin now manages a sober living house where he has become a mentor to other addicts in recovery.

For him, helping others who are going through what he went through is rewarding.

“It gives you meaning and it makes you feel good,” Tarvin said. “Where I am, people look at me for hope and strength. For me to be able to help people, do simple things…it’s amazing.”

And Tarvin said other recovering addicts want to help people too.

“An addict is a determined person,” Tarvin said. “We went through more than what most can handle. Most of us have a good work ethic. Addicts can recover if they have the opportunity to recover.”

For more information about the heroin epidemic in Clermont County, or to get involved, contact The Mental Health and Recovery Board at (513) 732-5400 or visit www.ccmhrb.org.