Heroin use and opioids are running rampant in our coverage area.

What that means is there is a serious increase in drug use, according to Joe Guardiani, vice president of development and government relations for Blue Mountain Health System.Guardiani discussed illicit drugs such as heroin, as well as prescription drugs such as painkillers at a recent Palmerton Area Chamber of Commerce meeting.Chamber President Peter Kern said, "The drug problem is something that affects all of us either directly or indirectly."Guardiani said drug addictions are a huge problem affecting society."I look at addictions as a disease," Guardiani said."Once contracted, you will always have a propensity."Compulsive behavior is at the heart of addictions, Guardiani said.More specifically, feelings of compulsion, shame and guilt, he said."It's important for us to be able to step in and provide proper availability of inpatient treatment to that patient," he said. "The process has gotten very selective, and treatment is very costly for those who are uninsured."With regard to opiate addictions, Guardiani said things were much different when he started 25 years ago in the treatment field.At that time, alcohol was the primary drug of choice, followed by marijuana and cocaine.Now, it's shifted to opioids, followed by alcohol, marijuana and cocaine, he said.In his eight years with Blue Mountain, Guardiani said he's noticed that the majority of people are opiate-addicted patients who are in an inappropriate relationship with drugs such as Vicodin and oxycodone."But they can never afford that, so they go to the next best thing, heroin," he said. "A bag of heroin costs about as much as a pack of cigarettes.""The physical addiction creates all kinds of social problems," he said. "All priorities get turned upside down."On a positive note, Guardiani discussed a prescription drug monitoring program that allows physicians to track addictive or dangerous drugs."That's a big step forward," he said.