As the area continued to fight the war against illegal drugs and the abuse of prescription medication, a new "legal" high reared its head in 2011.
Area police departments were dealing with a scourge known as "bath salts," a synthetic drug that can be smoked, inhaled, injected or swallowed. Its side effects mimic LSD/ecstasy and PCP with severe agitation.
Physiologically, those side effects include paranoia, hallucinations and severe anxiety; physical effects include severe loss of appetite, resulting in rapid weight loss and teeth grinding.
Throughout the area, police departments began to see violent incidents develop with individuals who were on the drug.
In April, Robert W. Stevens, 50, of Shamokin, broke bones in his feet and suffered a back injury when he jumped through a second-story window. Police had been called to the house on other occasions earlier with Stevens believing that three men were coming after him about a girl they were attempting to steal.
As he was lying on the ground, Stevens told police to tell the imagined males to stop throwing glass at him.
Another Shamokin man, William Regester, had to have all of his toes and a significant portion of his feet amputated after being found by police attempting to break into a home and wearing no shoes.
He was taken to the hospital for treatment of frostbite and hypothermia.
James Adams, 48, of Atlas, was taken into custody after keeping Mount Carmel Borough police at bay with a large knife and a baseball bat with screws sticking out of it, screaming that he had people (imaginary) pinned down in a house he broke into. Earlier that day, Adams had stolen a vehicle and crashed it into a parked car.
Justin Boyles, of Shamokin, missing for 10 days, had a concentration of the drug in his system when his body was found in a wooded area in Coal Township. He was last seen at a local convenience store, attempting to buy the drug.
With the problem growing, several municipalities passed ordinances banning the synthetic drugs from their borders.
Mount Carmel Township was the first to do so, and the minute the ordinance was passed at a Friday morning meeting, township Police Chief Brian Hollenbush went to a local store, issuing a warning to get rid of the drugs.
One month later, Hollenbush and members of a drug task force was back at the same store, confiscating the drugs.
Other municipalities followed suit, as the bath salts ban spread. The problem finally captured the attention of Pennsylvania lawmakers.
On June 23, Gov. Tom Corbett signed a bill banning all synthetic drugs, designating them the same as any other controlled substance.
The latest raid came on Nov. 10 when Coal Township Police officers and members of the Northumberland-Montour Drug Task Force, raided the Mount Royal Mini-Mart in Ranshaw.
Coal Township Police Det. Jeffrey Brennan said no charges have been filed in the investigation, as officials are waiting for lab results on confiscated items.
"I think the statewide ban helped to reduce the amount of incidents in the area," Brennan said. "It's still an issue, but since the legislation was signed, it's been cutting down the supply in the area."