Drug arrests are on the rise in Jim Thorpe, which is a good news and bad news situation for the borough's police department.

While it means taking criminals off the street, it also confirms more and more people are becoming addicted to their drug of choice.Jim Thorpe has dedicated one of its officers, Matthew Swartz, to combatting the drug issue in the borough."Making something illegal doesn't stop people from doing it," Swartz said. "The only way to really get a handle on it is through education. People have to look at this stuff and just not want to do it. It comes with raising your children the right way and educating them that this stuff, no matter the drug, is not something you want to mess with."Part of that education continued last week as Swartz gave a presentation during a Jim Thorpe Community Watch meeting.In 2014, 63 people were charged with drug-related offenses in the borough.Those arrests, Swartz said, may not always end up in the newspaper the next day."When we arrest someone, we're usually trying to go after a bigger fish," he said. "This stuff isn't growing in Jim Thorpe. What we see here with heroin and cocaine is that the largest amount of it is either coming from or going to Allentown or Hazleton."According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, prescription pain medications like Vicodin and OxyContin have been involved in more overdose deaths than heroin and cocaine combined since 2003.Swartz credits that to what he called an "overprescribing problem," especially with drugs like Ritalin and Adderall."Now a kid goes to the doctor for any behavioral issue and the doctor will give them a bunch of pills even though they aren't fully matured and can't really handle it," he said. "There is definitely an issue there and it comes down to the patient to self-regulate."Swartz played several videos showing the dangers of meth labs, both in vehicles and a home.A big jump came from 2011 to 2012 when Pennsylvania went from 10 meth lab incidents to 96, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration."There are a lot of things people in the community can look for to help us out with that," said Mayor Michael Sofranko. "If you see someone buying a bunch of Sudafed and it's July, you know something is going on. It's not flu season."According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, first-time heroin use among 12- to 17-year-olds has increased 80 percent since 2002.Around 23 percent of people who use heroin become dependent on it."It used to be that heroin was taboo," Swartz said. "If someone in school was doing heroin, nobody talked to them. Now, it's like any other drug. I don't know the answer. We're out doing the best we can trying to enforce the laws."