Whitehall Township Crime Watch meetings continued in June with the 2015 theme "The War at Home."

The guest speaker for the June 22 meeting was Lisa Fiore, of the Center for Humanistic Change and the HOPE Program.

Fiore is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh and has almost 15 years of experience working with mental health agencies. The HOPE (Heroin and Opioid Prevention Education) Program was "developed to respond to the growing concern around the heroin and opioid epidemic in Lehigh County and through the state of Pennsylvania."

Fiore started her presentation with a clear message: "I want you to walk away tonight knowing that there's no one person, no one age, no one gender, no one race and no one person from any specific socioeconomic category that you're going to find that abuses heroin or opioids," she said.

Opioids are pain medications, including Percocet and Oxycontin.

"Over the past five years, nearly 3,000 Pennsylvanians have died from opioid overdose," Fiore said. "We have a problem here in Pennsylvania."

In Whitehall, in 2014, there were four deaths from heroin.

Individuals access prescription drugs by buying them on the street and through their family's medicine cabinet.

"Fifty-five percent are given [prescription drugs] free from family and friends," Fiore said, "because there's a separate category for stolen from family members."

One of the most distinctive reactions of an opioid high are dilated pupils and nodding off, which can last from 30 seconds to a few minutes. After which, a hyperalertness occurs, Fiore said.

Fiore said if you or someone you know may benefit from a rehab center, there are support groups around the county.

"There is a way to get funding for a rehab," Fiore said, referring to Lehigh County programs for those who don't have insurance.

In other Whitehall Township Crime Watch meeting news, in May, there were three reported sex offenses, nine DUIs and 22 accounts of fraud.

Meetings are held in the fourth Monday of the month, 7 p.m., in the public meeting room of the Whitehall Township Municipal Building, 3219 MacArthur Road. They are open to the public.