it's not has no boundaries, any socioeconomic bount reese for anyone. >> who is using it in the suburbs and would we be surprised? >> our youngest death this year was a 19-year-old, our oldest was a 69-year-old. >> wow. >> the socioeconomic boundaries don't exist for this drug. >> you touch on an important point, taking control. explain why this drug is so different than any other drug out there. >> this is a drug that can be used once and at that time in many cases can be so addictive that you cannot get off it without special treatment and it takes months of special treatment to get off it. a lot of our younger people and people that start on this start

with pills, the opioid pills, and then go to the heroin up from them, whether they get the opioid pills from the medicine cabinets or off the streets, but then it's a progression and they need more and more to satisfy their need and many times it reaches the level that they overdose. >> where is the heroin in delaware county coming from? >> it's coming from everywhere, quite frankly. it's coming from the city, it's coming from -- in delaware county as well. they're going out to get it wherever they can possibly find it. a lot of them as i just stated are coming from the medicine cabinets from our own homes, from prescribed drugs and many times our community and our residents keep those pills in their medicine cabinets even when they don't use them anymore. what we need our residents do is get rid of all unwanted prescriptions, unneeded prescriptions and all their medicines so our young people and those that are addicted to these drugs aren't going into

the medicine cabinets and stealing them, selling them and using them. >> and that's related to your drop box program. >> that is correct. right now in delaware county we started a program three years ago, we call our medicine drop box. we started with two or three drop boxes in our police municipal police stations, now we are up to over 40 drop boxes. and these drop boxes are like mailboxes, very much more secure than a mailbox, but any resident can drop off any medicine at any time in these police stations anonymously. nobody needs to know and then the criminal investigation division of delaware county will collect that medicine and we will get rid of it in the proper manner. to date we've collected over 11,000 pounds of medicine. >> wow. >> so it's an incredibly successful program. >> i was just going to ask you the response from the community. certainly part of this is cooperation from the people who live in delaware county.

>> absolutely. it's cooperation, it's getting the word out to our residents that we need them to empty their medicine cabinets so the young people in our society won't use those drugs. >> because they can be so addictive. >> it is completely addictive and as i stated earlier, most of those that are addicted and using heroin now start from the pill stage. the pills get too expensive or they cannot get them any longer, then they go to the needle stage for heroin and that's what we are trying to prevent. we're trying to get the education out to get these medicines to our medical drop boxes and get rid of them. we will collect them and get rid of them properly. >> we know that addiction touches so many people's lives, i think the latest statistic from the nih is one in four families is affected by some kind of addiction. for people at home who may be saying, well, heroin, that's not really -- that has nothing to do with me. what do you say to them? >> heroin back in the '60s and '70s was a different type of heroin and a different type of

problem. right now heroin in delaware county and throughout the commonwealth affects everyone. i can almost state here today that everyone knows someone that's had a problem. i've known incredibly great families, families that they've coached their children, that had great educations that have died from an overdose of heroin. so it does affect everyone, young, old, rich, poor, those that go to college, those that don't go to college, it is affecting everyone and it is an epidemic of great proportion that we need to stop and fight. >> and the recovery component of this is so crucial. >> the recovery -- once we save them and once we -- they are saved by the emergency rooms recovery portion is a big part of it. we need to get the state and the federal government to fund that a little more heavily. it is very difficult. in delaware county we actually started a program, with he hired two recovery specialists and that program started in april

and what they do, they go to the emergency rooms when someone has been administered there -- admitted there because of an overdose and they meet with them, they meet with the families, they try to get their insurance to help, they try to get them into a program. to date we've met with over 600 people, that's since april. so that's 600 people we're trying to put on the proper path because, again, heroin is so addictive that it will keep repeating itself if we don't get them to recovery. >> councilman dave white of delaware county, thank you for being with us. >> thank you for having me. >> we will be checking on the progress you are making with the task force. coming up next on nbc 10! @ issue a in you cholesterol drug may be a game changer but many who need it fear they will never be able to get their hands on it. later he has been studying weather patterns and churching the numbers, glen hurricane schwartz joins us with his long range winter forecast.

this is nbc 10! @ issue.

a new drug has caused quite a stir lately and that's because a recent study found the drug can shrink plaque that's clogging arteries, it can also release ldl cholesterol, the lethal form to extremely low levels. here is why this drug could be a game changer. according to the centers for disease control 73 million americans have high ldl cholesterol, it doubles the risk of heart disease, many people think the number one killer of men and women in america is cancer but it is heart disease. one pharmaceutical survey finds more than 15 million americans take medication to lower their cholesterol. joining me now is dr. daniel soffer. he is an internist with penn medicine who specializes in treating cholesterol disorders. thank you for being with us. >> thank you for having me. >> we just heard how pervasive and dangerous high cholesterol is. how can this new drug complaining and is that it worth the hype?

>> new ways to treat high cholesterol are important because even though we have they good cools for lowering cholesterol and reducing cardiovascular risk o not everybody can take them at the doses we would like to use and we don't always get to the goals we want to achieve. >> what makes she is new depression revolutionary or a breakthrough? >> to give you a first, depending on the dose and the brand of statten you take your ldl cholesterol level will be lowered from around 25% to as much as 55%. that's the range of ldl cholesterol lowering and it varies from individual to individual and it varies depending on the dose and which brand medicine you're taking. the other nonstat tins, they lower ldl cholesterol by anywhere from 15 to 25%. so at the lower end of helpful compared to stat tins. so that's why they're always considered add on to statins.

and there's not as much evidence supporting those stanitj. pcs k-9 lower clost roll by 50 to 79% and it's very consistent. there are individuals who don't respond quite as well. besides being more potent at cholesterol lowering they do it in an easy way, they are less bothersome in terms of side effects. so the side effect profile is really favorable. so doctors like me, people who treat cholesterol disorders and also people who treat cardiac problems and primary care problems are very excited about the prospect of having a new medicine, a new class of sed sin that are lower ldl cholesterol by as much as maximum dose statins with fewer side effects. what remains to be seen is if it prevents heart attack, stroke and death.

we don't know if they will or they won't. there is some preliminary data from the early clinical trials that the fda looked at to get the drug approved that suggested they are going to lower cardiovascular risk. it was a large clinical trial that was published and released at the american heart association meetings last month that demonstrated that using this medicine induces some plaque regression so the size and the bulk of the plaque in the coronary arteries went down when repatho was added o optimal medical therapy. >> this new drug. >> yeah. >> here is the question, obviously as you said it's exciting, a new way to treat cholesterol disorders, however, for example, this drug repatho is pretty expensive, about $14,000 a month and -- >> per year. >> per year, rather, and at least as of now it appears as though insurance companies may not pay for it and you would have to inject the drug yourself. >> those are some of the hurdles

to getting the drug. >> dr. daniel soffer thank you for your insight and for walking us through all of this. >> thanks for having me. coming up, the nbc 10 chief meteorologist glenn hurricane schwartz will join us with his long range winner forecast. find out how much snow glenn expects will fall in our area this season.

this is nbc 10! @ issue. last year we certainly received our fair share of snow and with the winter season upon us the big question is what's going to happen this year. joining me now is chief meteorologist glenn hurricane schwartz. he has his long range winter forecast and the news of big winter changes on the way. >> when i first did that winter forecast that was a month ago when it was extremely mild and we're talking about the pattern changing and december becoming cold. >> uh-huh. >> well, here is came. just in time for this weekend the first arctic air mass has

come across and now we feel like winter and there's going to be a lot more of it. >> so we know what to expect right now. your long range forecast gives us a look at what to expect month to month. >> remember this, it's the only snowstorm we had last winter. january 22nd and 23rd. we had 22.4 inches in philadelphia which by itself made it a snow weir than normal winter. we only had 5 inches for the winter outside of that storm. but it was also a very mild winter, especially in december, our warmest on record by far. people were out in shorts as temperatures reached the 70s on christmas eve. the warm but stormy winter was aided by a record strong el nino. this warm water in the tropical pacific helped influence weather patterns all over the world. now el nino is i don't know and colder ocean temperatures single

a weak la nina. you can see it in the blue on the latest map. it may seem strange but big snow cover on the other side of the world, specifically uraskia is correlated with snowier and colder winters around here and this october was just about the snowiest yet, an important factor. >> ice melt in the arctic is a factor i've been talking about for years, an increasing number of scientists connect the massive ice melt with warmer weather in the arctic. it may not be a coincidence that our past eight years have featured our two snowiest winters and two of the three biggest snowstorms ever recorded here. the urasian snow combined with the increased arctic ice melt over recent years is increase the amount of a certain weather pattern called the arctic oscillation, the negative arctic

oscillation. what you get is high pressure, warmer weather up over the poles forces the arctic air south. that gives us the colder and snowier pattern. here is how it all added up. first highlights. overall colder and snowier than last winter. no monster snowstorms of more than 15 inches. a sharp change from a warm november to a cold december. january, the snowiest month. and february the mildest month compared to normal. and then winter returns in march. the specifics, in december 4 inches of snow, 2 degrees below normal temps. january 14 inches, near normal temps. february 8 inches, plus two in the temperature department. and then march 6 inches of snow, 2 degrees below normal. a total of 28 to 36 inches of snow and temperatures 2 degrees

below normal. >> so 28 to 36 inches, i will take that compared to last winter we had that blizzard. >> that was just the one storm. >> it was a big one. >> we had 2 feet of snow? one storm and the rest of the whole winter we had about 4 inches. we have had some really rough winters in the past ten years, the two snowiest winters ever recorded were happening in the last ten years in philadelphia. >> so why is that happening? >> well, there are some interesting theories about that, as i was mentioning in the -- in the explanation for the winter forecast itself, the amount of ice that has melted in the arctic is just extraordinary and it may have gotten to the point where it's affecting global weather patterns and there are some people who believe that this all of a sudden incredibly snowy winters, giant snowstorms that that's maybe not a

coincidence that it's happened in the last ten years because the melting of the arctic ice helps change the weather patterns and we can get these blocking patterns and if everything goes together like it did that one time last winter you get these giant what we call blockbuster snowstorms. this winter was setting up to be a similar type where there are many factors and most of them were favoring colder and snowier than last winter. >> so this is for the people out there to say, wait a minute, global warming? it's freezing. >> yeah, well, the warmer of the earth is not uniform. so if you warm up the arctic more than you warm up the rest of the area, you're creating some imbalances and in some cases they may have been unexpected consequences, but when you look back now you

think, oh, that makes sense. this is still an area that's primitive, that there's disagreement on. >> sure. >> in the global warming argument. not about the planet warming and will warm in the future, but the affects of that warming on actual weather patterns because the climate is a big change, that goes over decades and hundreds of years. the weather depoeather goes day the weather itself is so variable it's hard to pick out the trends from that. >> and we see it season to season. i mean, obviously as you're telling us about the winter, but certainly through the spring and summer and fall. >> yeah, we have gotten more extremes, the ocean is being warmer especially off the east coast, that has helped create bigger storms, bigger rainstorms. >> yes. >> and when it's cold enough, bigger snowstorms. so we have had all sorts of

rainfall records over the last ten years, we have had all sorts of snowfall records, two out of the biggest individual snowstorms have occurred just in the last ten years. >> so one part of our region that definitely is paying attention to your long range forecast -- not that we all aren't because we are, but certainly the pocono mountains, the resorts, they really got hit hard last year in december and through the early part of january because they barely had any snow. >> yeah, and this is going to be the opposite. as i was saying in the explanation, the el nino that we had last year, this super el nino, that changed everything and that helped lead to this super warm december that we had and that led to a really bad start at least for the snow season. we don't have that el nino anymore and so we're now set up with the arctic air in and the type of weather pattern that favors more coming in, especially in december and into january, so i don't expect this

winter to be anything like last winter. >> and certainly cold enough for them to be making that snow. >> and cold enough for various storms to produce snow, but i'm not necessarily thinking about the 2 foot storm. >> a big blizzard. that was crazy. >> a lot of smaller occasions. >> people were digging out for a while, glenn. >> but a lot of people liked it, get it out of the way with one storm. >> glenn hurricane schwartz thanks for being with us. coming up, just when you thought you've nailed down your routine at the airport an airline throws you a new curveball, we will explain why the overhead space above your seat may be banned for some passengers.

this is nbc 10! @ issue. the next time you fly you may want to pack light. some travelers will soon be banned from using the overhead bin on united airlines, beginning next year people who buy united airlines cheapest

tickets will only be allowed a small carry on bag like a purse, backpack or briefcase. basic economy travelers wanting to check a bag will have to pay united's regular fee of $25 for one bag, $35 for a second bag. a pack of heroes returned home last week. 13 retired bomb detection dogs took their first steps on american soil in houston after a long military tour in kuwait. the four-legged heroes have spent the past few years serving their nation and keeping our troops safe, now the pups are getting ready for a well deserved life of rest and relaxation. the organization mission k-9 will work to rehabilitation and reintegrate the dogs into society. they hope to have the dogs in new homes just in time nor christmas. that's it for this edition of nbc 10! @ issue. thanks for watching. you can join me again every weekend morning beginning at 5:00 on saturdays and 5:30 a.m. on sundays. have a great day.

) on today's special paid presentation for cindy crawford's new meaningful beauty ultra, brought to you by guthy-renker, you'll discover the secrets to not only aging gracefully, but beautifully while looking your absolute best every step of the way. i think my philosophy on aging is really more my philosophy on living, which is just do it well, take care of yourself. it's about celebrating where you are and being the best you that you can be in that moment. then it's not aging, you're just living. (female narrator) in the next few minutes, some of the world's most inspiring women will share with you the secrets to looking as young on the outside as you feel on the inside. (valerie) i am 54 years old, and i feel like i have that little extra oomph that i need because my skin looks good. i love my skin now. i love it. there's no question that my skin is better now

than it was five years ago.