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Show h e 2mlyHcrttlf) AN EDITION OF T ft l-RT LQTC-018 :;; ;rr-a association 1 52 i - CIYr UT 64124-1501 1V c.' i T L YOUR TOWN, YOUR NEIGHBORS, YOUR NEWSPAPER THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2005 50 CENTS VOL 118 NO. 6 ii if i nni it ii iramatic rise in abuse in You wouldn't think it could be true, but it is. Utah County's Coun-ty's Division of Substance Abuse is reporting a significant signifi-cant increase in opiate abuse for 2004. Opiate drugs include in-clude prescription drugs like Oxycontin and Lortab-drugs commonly prescribed for pain management. Illegal drugs like heroin fall into the same category. "We've seen a spike in to- tal opiate treatment admissions," admis-sions," reports Richard Nance, director of the Utah County Division of Substance Sub-stance Abuse. "By the end of the third quarter of 2004, we were on a trajectory where opiate treatment admissions would exceed those for methamphetamine, marijuana marijua-na and alcohol. When combined com-bined into one category at the end of the year, opiate drugs were our largest single sin-gle primary cause for admission." admis-sion." Dr. Joel Millard, Executive Director of the Project Reality Reali-ty methadone treatment programs pro-grams in Salt Lake and Utah County reported in September Septem-ber , that, "Patients are younger, injecting use is down, Oxycontin use is up, and the heroin supply is cheap, plentiful and more accessible. ac-cessible. More clients in treatment have mental health issues and an increasing increas-ing number of pregnant SHS Honors Philharmonic Orchestra in concert tonight The Honors Philharmonic Orchestra of Springville High School will perform a pre-tour concert tonight, Thursday, Feb. 17 at 7:30 p.m. in the SHS auditorium. This group will be touring to Reno, Nevada the next week to attend the National Orchestra Festival and compete com-pete against some of the top school orchestras of the nation. na-tion. The music for the concert will include "Overture to Nabucco", by Giuseppe Verdi, Antonin Dvorak's "Slavonic Dance No. 4", and the "Finale to Symphony No. 2" by Peter Illyich Tchaikowsky. The orchestra members have dedicated many hours outside of class time to prepare for this festival. Come and hear this impressive group play. The concert is free and open to the public. Please be considerate and do not bring children too young to appreciate ap-preciate the concert t , SK.L'i.1. .. Kl1 ..fa:, ifc., -a,,, i latv,. aa-,.,Mll1lh "fllO I Iftinn Vail fZr-nri rnunn " e ui iiiiji wen, viiuiiu uiiijfuii, n uic ll lie wi uin vn panning uj liiiuii ianyci iiciu. 11 un luan iiuiii iiic uciaiu retells uanciy ui Jdllld Fe and is part of the Southwest Visions: From the BN and SF Railway Collection now on display at the Springville Museum of Art The show will go through April 1, and a reception will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 23, from 6 to 8 p.m. The public is invited to attend. BfltfOUM Utah County women are seeking treatment." treat-ment." Even though opiate treatment treat-ment admissions are high, Utah County still has a relatively rela-tively low rate of substance abuse compared to other areas ar-eas in the state and the US as a whole. "Last year, for the first time in many years, we learned that Utah did not have the lowest substance abuse rates in the country. Iowa earned that distinction, making Utah 49th. Utah County consistently has the lowest rates of substance sub-stance abuse in the state among both adults and youth according to the State Estimates Esti-mates of Substance Use from the 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health published pub-lished by the federal Substance Sub-stance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Administra-tion and the Utah State Division Divi-sion of Substance Abuse and Mental Health. One very disturbing trend in Utah County, though, is the transition from prescription prescrip-tion opiate use to heroin. Drugs like Oxycontin must be prescribed by a physician and filled at a pharmacy. Physicians prescribe these drugs for legitimate pain management, but as patients need higher doses to maintain main-tain the same level of effectiveness, effec-tiveness, physicians become reluctant to continue pre- 4- SiiW , . ii..,,;r . , a. ...x.. .... uat? .vrr-.w :, T. ),.,. !. L. Uir ! xolntlnaa !.. CIIIaH n...M M I, t Tk. opiate scribing-especially if patients pa-tients begin to demand specific spe-cific pain medications and reject re-ject the suggestion of alternatives. alter-natives. When patients become addicted ad-dicted and can no longer get prescriptions for opiate pain medication, they often turn to buying pills from friends or illegal suppliers. "We hear that Oxycontin tablets run around $ 1 per milligram mil-ligram or $40 to $80 per pill on the street," said Heather Shivers, a Utah County Felony Drug Court case manager. man-ager. "The equivalent dose of heroin is much cheaper at about $7-$ 15." When Oxycontin Oxy-contin becomes to expensive and too hard to come by, many addicts turn to heroin. "What we're seeing is like waves crashing on the beach," said Nance. "We have seen one wave of Oxycontin Oxy-contin admissions in 2003 followed fol-lowed by a similar wave of heroin admissions in 2004. We're very concerned about what we'll see in 2005." In 2003, most defendants in the Utah County Felony Drug Court program were methamphetamine addicts. Rosie Jensen, the drug court coordinator, described the change in drug court this way; "The clients used to call drug court 'meth court' since so many clients were in treatment for methamphetamine. methampheta-mine. Now over sixty percent per-cent of drug court clients report re-port opiate addiction as the reason for their being in the program." The geographic distribution distribu-tion of opiate admissions is troubling as well. "Springville has gotten a bad rap as the heroin capital of Utah County. That is unfair and undeserved," says Nance. "I believe the Springville Police Department Depart-ment under Chief Scott Fin-layson Fin-layson just did a good job of policing the problem in the community, sending the message mes-sage that heroin use and distribution dis-tribution won't be tolerated there." "As a percent of population, popula-tion, we see far more treatment treat-ment admissions coming from Spanish Fork, Payson and otner cities south of Highway 6," said Nance. sewn r:'..s4 f. 1715 tiotf 500 nYTTT tUm iil Li! Xamd lA 2-' Last week the Sweetheart Royalty was crowned at Springville High School McCaye Tobler was chosen Queen, and Breanne Dew and Nikki Crandall were named as the attendants. Each year the Sweetheart Royalty is chosen by the FFA during an assembly where the girls are run through various competitions. Part of the reason for this is stepped-up drug enforcement enforce-ment activity on the part of those police departments now, according to Nance. Springville Police Chief Finlayson said, "We are pleased with the information put out by the Utah County Division of Substance Abuse. We realize that we still have a problem with illegal drugs in our community, and we will continue to pursue those using illegal drugs." "It is unfortunate, but all communities have a drug Rroblem. We are working ard to reduce our problem and will continue to work 'Last Saturday at the LBT entertainment series Mark your calendars on the last Saturday of each month to be entertained at the Little Brown Theatre in Springville. The live performance perfor-mance series is called, "Last Saturday at the LBT." There is a different show lanned for each month. The acts will feature live music, comedians, hypnotists or plays. A variety of artists are scheduled to appear. The debut show is Saturday, Satur-day, Feb. 26. Three bluegrass f n.lA Dl.- "-II I C AC Souft o Sprfnnuillo 001 mJ JL. ii. iJliJiwsii iJki 1 Ii J with the schools and community commu-nity to do that, said Finlayson. Fin-layson. According to Finlayson, only one Turn In a Drug Dealer form has come back to the police department. The form was published in the Springville Herald and in the January Springville City Source newsletter. Citizens were asked to give police information in-formation if they knew drug dealing was going on. That information is welcomed anytime by Springville Police and is held strictly confidential. confiden-tial. Treatment for opiate addiction ad-diction is available and effec bands will energize the house in rapid succession. Stars and Bars is one group to perform for Last Saturday at the LBT on the 26th. The seven-member band features fiddles, guitars, gui-tars, a mandolin, a banjo and a bass. Plus all the musicians sing together in perfect harmony. har-mony. Star and Bars placed 2nd at Provo's Bluegrass Fiddle Fid-dle Fest in 2004. Expect to hear favorites such as "Jerusalem Ridge", "The Devil Went Down to Applications being taken for Art Royalty The Springville Museum of Art invites aU sophomore and junior girls to try out for Art Royalty for the 2005-2006 2005-2006 year. Applications may be picked up at the office of Springville High School, the Springville Museum of Art or by phoning Dianne Carr at 4894230. Applicants must be sopho- Cemetery notice It is time to. clean off all the decorations from the graves in both Evergreen Cemetery and the Historic His-toric City Cemetery. All decorations need to be removed by February 28, 2005 or they will be removed re-moved by the Sexton on March l, 2005 for Spring cleanup. TJT) .1 Jr. 1 J.JL 71 tive, but accessing it is difficultespecially diffi-cultespecially when the addicts ad-dicts insist they don't have a problem and refuse to seek treatment on their own. There are a number of licensed li-censed substance abuse treatment providers in Utah County. Information about treatment treat-ment can be found on the Utah State Department of Human Services web site (www.hsdsa.utah.gov), through the Utah County United Way Community Resource Re-source directory (www.unit-edwayuc.org), (www.unit-edwayuc.org), or by calling Utah County Division of substance sub-stance Abuse at 851-7128. Georgia", and "Sweet Home Alabama." These BYU students stu-dents hail from all over the country. They are popular performers at various venues on the BYU campus, at community events and private pri-vate gigs. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. and tickets are $3 at the door. The Little Brown Theatre The-atre is an intimate venue located lo-cated at 239 S. Main in Springville. For reservations or more information call 491-8071. more or junior girls at Springville High School and willing to promote the programs pro-grams of the Art Museum. Applications must be turned into the Springville Museum of Art by March 19, 2005 at 5 p.m. Finalists will be chosen and invited to a brunch for girls and their mothers or guardians to be held April 9 at the museum. The candidates and their escorts will be invited to the be guests at the Art Ball on April 30, where the Art Royalty Roy-alty for 200-5 will be announced. an-nounced. If you have questions, phone Dianne Carr at 489-4230 489-4230 or Dawn Jensen at the Springville Museum of Art, 489-2727. 6 ",B61055 00050"" 8 - 006 - 9500 wm |