SLIPPERY ROCK — Drugs and alcohol are major issues in Butler County.

Renee Bateman, co-chairwoman of the Slippery Rock Alcohol and Addictions Coalition, cited statistics from the county coroner’s office, saying that there were 33 drug related deaths in the area in one year, with 19 being from multiple drugs, 10 from heroin, two from alcohol, one from methadone and one from fentanyl.

Nationwide, she said that 17 percent of students have tried alcohol before age of 13, 20 percent of college students have had five or more drinks in a row in the past 30 days and 23 percent have used marijuana at least once in the past 30 days.

“We need to start having the conversation,” said Bateman about drug and alcohol issues.

The coalition, along with the Slippery Rock Rotary Club, on Tuesday night hosted a panel discussion at Slippery Rock University about drug and alcohol addiction in the Slippery Rock area.

William Young III, who has been the county coroner for the past 15 years, said, “All my years I’ve been here we’ve had a problem with heroin. It’s just that in the last few years, it’s gotten a lot worse.”

Puddie Taggart, medical officer of the Slippery Rock Volunteer Fire Company and Rescue Team, said that the drug Narcan, which can save people from an opiate overdose, is a big help right now.

In the past two months, she said the rescue team has used Narcan five times on people. Additionally, she said that the area has seen some bad doses of marijuana, which likely were laced with heroin.

Terry Fedokovitz, chief of the Slippery Rock Police Department, said that there are a lot of drug and alcohol programs in the county.

“They do work. It’s just it’s not enough people taking part in them,” Fedokovitz said.

He said that a good way to help is for parents to know what their children are doing and to talk to them about these issues.

Warning signs of drug use among young people that parents should look for include missing money, missing medications, personality changes and changes in friends. He also said that gateway drugs can include items such as nail polish remover, canned air and white out liquid.

Fedokovitz said a good idea for parents is to establish rules with their children regarding drug and alcohol use. He also said that harsher legal punishments for drug and alcohol might help.

Dr. Daniel Ferguson, a physician for SRU Student Health Services, said that 10 percent of his high school class in Manhattan, N.Y., was dead by the 10th anniversary reunion, mostly from drugs

“It’s here; it’s not going away,” Ferguson said of drugs.

But he does not think Narcan is a solution, saying it does not really solve any problems.

“It’s a nice short-term fix,” Ferguson said, noting people are still addicted from heroin after an overdose.

He said what is needed is for families to work to prevent addiction as well as education.

Tim Fennell, coordinator of the county Drug Task Force, said putting people in prison is not the answer. Either they get sent to prison and start doing drugs again when they get out or they end up on probation. He said the average probation officer in the county has 350 to 400 cases.

“How does he keep them off drugs? He doesn’t,” Fennell said.

In 2011, the county started a drug treatment court, which involved intensive court supervision and treatment. Eighteen people are in the court now, and 11 have graduated.

“The program works,” Fennell said.

He said the program is expensive, but the cost is low compared to keeping people in jail. Additionally, he said people who go through the court end up putting money back into the community when they graduate.

Jerry Bowser with the Grove City Rotary Club spoke about the Reality Tour program, which is a prevention program that involves discussion for children aged 10 and up.

“This is not a scared straight program,” said Bowser, whose daughter died of a drug overdose a few years ago.

He said he would like to see more schools use the program.

Wilma Oman, a nurse in the Slippery Rock School District, said the district’s addiction education program 20 years ago involved simply teaching students about drugs and alcohol. Today, the program is peer taught, which she said is more dynamic and involved for the students.

Joyce Ainsworth, county human services director, said she has made the drug and alcohol program her top priority.

But the bad news is that the county has had a 9 percent reduction in state funding since 2004.

“We have not seen a 9 percent reduction in need,” Ainsworth said.

However, she said that Gov. Tom Wolf is proposing an increase in funding for drug and alcohol programs.

She said that treatment works, but it often takes more than one attempt. She noted that the average 90-day addiction treatment costs about $20,000, which people have to fight hard to get. But the average heart surgery costs about $324,000, and she said almost no one would deny a patient heart surgery.

Rachel Mortimer, a senior at SRU, said that most students look at alcohol as something that you just do in college. She said that there needs to be a way to convey information without it seeming like a lecture.

Linda Franiewski, executive director of the Ellen O’Brien Gaiser Center, said Pennsylvania has the 14th highest overdose death rate in the United States. She said that only about 11.2 percent of those needing addiction treatment will get it, and about 10 percent of all people have addiction issues.

She said people need to shift their thinking and understand that not everyone dealing with addiction is a criminal. Over the past 30 years, she said these addictions, which are essentially illnesses, have been criminalized.