Small town, hard drugs
Kittanning, roughly 40 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, has a scenic view of the Allegheny River. But the former manufacturing town has fallen on hard times, with unemployment higher than both the national and state rates, according to the most recent census estimates. The median household income is $35,735.
As the county seat, people used to drive in from the surrounding area to shop downtown. Now they drive past it to shopping malls.
“The only thing really left to do is drink and do drugs,” Holly said, “because they took everything out.”
But heroin is plentiful.
Addicts used to drive to Pittsburgh and bring drugs back to sell at inflated prices so they could pay for their own fix.
Then city dealers saw the profits they were missing and started cutting out the middle men, said Kittanning Police Chief Bruce Matthews. Parking lots and street corners became drug markets.
About Post Author
