Sometimes Maine residents lament their distance from the center of things; sometimes they wish the bridge across the Piscataqua River never had been built. The presence of heroin, brought up from more populated areas, generates the latter feeling.

Heroin has found its way through Portland, along the coast and, recently, to Bangor, meaning that it will be only a matter of months before it is all over the state. This disturbing news requires a region-wide response from everyone who can help teen-agers understand the potentially disastrous results from even experimenting with the deadly drug.

As reporter Renee Ordway chronicles in today’s edition, law-enforcement agents began finding bags of particularly pure and, therefore, potent heroin in Bangor starting last year, and even discovered a bulk shipment to the area, suggesting a substantial market here. The age of users, according to police, also was a surprise, starting at around 16.

Not so surprising was a concomitant increase in petty crimes associated with the need for people without means to get cash to support a habit. In the last couple of years, at least four local residents have fatally overdosed on the drug. The problem may not be overwhelming now, police conclude, but based on experiences in southern Maine, it will grow rapidly.

What can the community do? Most importantly, it can take the observations of the law-enforcement agents seriously and not pretend the problem doesn’t exist. That means supporting an information campaign to reach teens, backing the police with resources to increase patrols in areas known for heroin users and insisting that the state expand its involvement in trying to solve the problem.

Maine’s U.S. Attorney Jay McCloskey reports that he will announce later this month an initiative to bring professionals in law enforcement and health together to fight this scourge. “Bangor’s problem is substantial,” he said, “but hopefully still small enough that we can actually do something about it before it spins out of control.” Once his professionals have thought about the problem for a while, the next stop should be the public, which needs both an education on the dangers of heroin and solid advice about helping their children understand the concern.

Bangor isn’t the first region to face this problem, it can learn from others how best to defeat it.