ELDERTON — The real trouble with opioids is that people don’t recognize the trouble with opioids.

A federal investigator said Wednesday that there are few allies in the fight against the growing rate of addiction to heroin and painkilling drugs in America.

“It’s someone else’s problem,” is what people think.

David Battiste, of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, had a like-minded audience of about 100 at the monthly meeting of the Armstrong-Indiana Drug Free Communities Coalition held Wednesday at Towne Hall. The coalition brought together law enforcement, justice system, emergency services, mental health, medical, education and media representatives from the region.

Battiste, the assistant special agent in charge at DEA’s Pittsburgh District Office, spelled out goals of the “360 Strategy” program to combat prescription drug abuse, heroin trafficking and related violent crime.

Pittsburgh is one of four cities chosen in November to pilot the program.

360 Strategy aims to fast-track drug investigations, capitalize on local officials’ work and bring services to communities where agents put a dent in drug trade, Battiste said.

And Battiste pledged that the government would bring the fight to every one of the 25 counties served by the Pittsburgh office.

The fight might be easier if people understood its scope, he said.

The U.S. has 5 percent of the world’s population but Americans use 99 percent of the world’s opioids.

He said 80 percent of first-time heroin users reported that they started with legal prescribed drugs — although many stole, bought or were given drugs that weren’t prescribed to them. And recreational use wasn’t what many users originally had in mind.

“Many start not realizing the effect” and how easily addictions start, Battiste said. For example: Athletes who use painkillers to get over injuries.

“Most of us just can’t imagine how taking a pill leads to putting a needle in our arm,” Battiste said.

The Pittsburgh region recorded 743 deaths from opioid overdoses in 2014, and the 2015 figures, not final, should be in the same range. And he believes the numbers also are under-reported, “so it is more catastrophic than that,” Battiste said.

“If it was anything else — Ebola, anthrax, airplane crashes — if it were anything else causing that many deaths every year, we would have the National Guard out here and we would have a lot of assistance from everyone,” Battiste said. “But since it’s heroin … and the old stigma of putting it in the closet and saying it’s someone else’s problem, that is why this is an epidemic.

“We have to educate, we have to get it out there. And because there’s a legal feeder system causing this problem, we can’t turn out backs on it and we can’t wait until another 1,000 folks get addicted and go through the process.”

Battiste said 360 Strategy has led to intensive investigations into a recent wave of deaths of people who, perhaps unknowingly, used heroin laced with fentanyl.

“It produces the same effect but it is many times stronger and it kills. That compounds the problem,” Battiste said. “We can’t allow folks to sell that stuff to continue to sell with impunity.

“We will continue to arrest, and find and trace the heroin back to its source, because the DEA’s mission is to arrest the biggest and baddest dealers domestically and globally. That’s what we do. But we cannot turn our back on the local communities that we serve. That’s why we’re here.”

360 Strategy, Battiste said, shortens investigations from months to weeks. “We do this so two or three deaths doesn’t become 15 to 20 deaths,” Battiste said.

Indiana County District Attorney Patrick Dougherty said DEA joined the investigation of a series of heroin deaths in late March in Indiana County. The deaths were tied by the discovery of heroin packages with similar markings, investigators said.

“Within one week, an arrest was made,” Dougherty said. “That’s because of our positive relationship with the DEA. We are getting our share (of the federal resources). Indiana is not forgotten.”

Battiste said 360 Strategy works on the root of painkiller abuse by studying doctors, medical clinics and pharmacies’ records and weeding out those who are enabling and feeding addictions.

“Most doctors and pharmacists are law-abiding citizens, but there are some exceptions,” Battiste said. DEA begins by pressuring suspected providers to voluntarily surrender their registrations.

He said DEA has helped organize and promote prescription drug take-back programs in communities, where people have brought in 12,500 pounds of unwanted medications.

Battiste said 360 Strategy also works to bring together local communities services following DEA enforcement actions.

“We call it a roundup. We go into a community, we buy heroin from a lot of folks, and we arrest all of those people. Then we try to come back with ‘wraparound services,’” Battiste said. “When we arrest all those dealers and take them off the street, we understand there’s a user problem that will be looking for a fix or to get drugs to sustain their habit.

“For us, that’s an opportunity. We want to get the word out for the local services and partner with them … to let folks know where they can get help. It’s a good time to do that and help the addict community.”

A program participant questioned whether DEA would monitor low-level dealers to find higher-level suppliers.

Not when heroin with fentanyl is in circulation, Battiste said.

“We can’t sit back and let this guy sell,” he said. “If this guy has fentanyl, it’s all over. We won’t let people die to further an investigation.”

The Drug Free Communities Coalition is a project of the Armstrong-Indiana-Clarion Drug and Alcohol Commission. The group meets monthly to update partner members on local initiatives and to promote training and education programs.

Organizers of the Reality Tour in Blairsville reported that the program, which simulates the effects of drug abuse on users and their families, drew 34 participants in 2014-15 but attracted 296 so far in 2015-16. The program has added a presentation on Wednesday to its announced schedule.

The coalition also heard reports on local medication take-back programs, a contest that awarded prizes to area school students for writing radio public-service announcements, and met to reorganize an Overdose Task Force panel.

In addition to Battiste’s presentation on the DEA’s work, the coalition also welcomed faculty and student participants in the “Remembering Adam” substance abuse prevention program at Blairsville High School and Blairsville Middle School.

“Remembering Adam” was founded in Cambria County by the parents of an 18-year-old college student from Carrolltown who died of a heroin overdose in 1998. The family’s foundation aims to bring awareness of drug abuse in rural communities and supports school groups to promote healthy decisions and behaviors by students.

Students told coalition members that the program helps them withstand peer pressure and find alternatives that reduce their interest in tobacco, alcohol and drugs.

Middle school teacher Stacy Faulk said 54 percent of the high school student body and 86 percent of middle school students have signed up for Remembering Adam.

The program uses grants from the Drug and Alcohol Commission and the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General and donations from community supporters — such as WyoTech, the VFW and American Legion — to organize activities and provide incentives for students who successfully maintain a drug free lifestyle.

Students taking part in the program agree to undergo random drug testing.

Blairsville 11th-grader Austin Rodkey, whose family relocated to Indiana County from West Virginia two years ago, said Blairsville High School has a dramatically different atmosphere.

“At the other school, there was a lot of drugs going on. They didn’t have a program like this,” Rodkey said. “When I came here, it was cool to be drug free. It used to be cool to do drugs but here you’re getting rewarded for being drug free.

“It’s really easy for me to say no. In this group, it’s easy. I feel this program should be offered in every school.”

Rodkey said “Remembering Adam” has high participation by younger students but said it’s more important for older students to take part because they are more likely to face choices.