Mercer County officials on the front line in the fight against drug addiction shared their experiences and insight with the public Wednesday night at a forum organized by the Greenville Record-Argus.

Police officers who took part in the panel at Greenville High School said drug trends come and drug trends go, and while heroin remains a top contender, methamphetamine is on the rise.

"As far as the fire risk, the explosion risk, the gases it gives off to people, it can kill you in an instant," said one Hempfield Township officer.

Mercer County Coroner John Libonati, told the crowd that all too often he arrives at an overdose scene and there is a parent who wonders -- is it their fault?

"It's not their fault that the outside influences of this world has taken your children away from the values that your family has set forth," said Libonati.

The district attorney says he'll pass along to the federal level, big time dealers who are caught driving along local interstates.

"They can use the intelligence much better than we can. They can use info in Chicago and New York I cant do anything with it. They have a much bigger hammer than I have," said District Attorney Miles Karson.

And at the legislative level, they are now protecting the identity of those who call 911 to report drug activity in hopes of easing fears. 

"Our fear in Harrisburg is that people will not call and report drug dealers or over doses and things like that if those (911) recordings are public or if their addresses can be publicized, because people will track them down and that does happen," said State Senator Michele Brooks.

At the high school level officials say, "If we think our high school students are not using drugs, we are wrong. Because they are telling us that they are," said Laura Leskovac with mercer County Communities That Care.

According to Leskovac, the Pennsylvania Youth Survey says 15% of seniors in Mercer County are using narcotics -- but, officials stress that the majority of students are drug free.