City, County join forces to go after growing heroin epidemic

[undeterred]

In a week in which Dane County's death toll from heroin and other opiates climbed to within one of last year's, Madison and county officials on Wednesday announced a joint initiative to address the growing epidemic. Layla K. Heckel's death Sunday — confirmed Wednesday by the Dane County Medical Examiner's office — after a suspected heroin overdose is expected to push the number of opiate-related deaths to 22. This year's 135 reported opiate-related overdoses have already surpassed last year's 97, according to the Dane County Drug and Gang Task Force.

"That's an alarming situation," said Cheryl Wittke, executive director of Safe Communities, a nonprofit coalition of community organizations that is coordinating the new opiates task force. Wittke said the task force will involve law enforcement and public health officials, treatment professionals and others in a coordinated effort to address the heroin and opiate epidemic in Dane County, which mirrors a similar crisis nationwide. Areas of focus include reducing access to drugs and inappropriate use of prescription drugs, improving overdose intervention, preventing substance abuse and integrating mental health care, along with early intervention and drug treatment.

In announcing the initiative, Dane County Executive Joe Parisi noted that along with the impact on addicts and their families, other people also are at risk from heroin users who shoot up, then drive and pass out behind the wheel. Madison police have reported 12 incidents this year in which drivers have either crashed or were found unconscious in traffic following the use or suspected use of heroin or other opiates. One driver passed out on the Beltline, and another crashed into a tree after narrowly missing cyclists on the heavily used bike path along John Nolen Drive.

Parisi and Mayor Paul Soglin have included a total of $78,276 in their proposed budgets to fund coordination along with community education and outreach efforts. "We have to get firm control of this issue as soon as possible," Soglin said. "Families and friends are going to play a very critical role in how we stop this problem." Work groups will come together with their recommendations at a summit in January, and three months later will report three months on next steps. Madison Police Chief Noble Wray for years has been calling for a comprehensive public health response to heroin and opiate use, saying law enforcement alone can't solve the problem.


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[Viking12]

1. Wait a minute, the new drug scare is khat

and they're immigrants with dark skin and funny sounding names...BOO!

!Abdimajid Said, 36, of Minneapolis, Hussein Salad, 30, of Howard and Abdigani Raage, 28, of Green Bay all are charged with being party to felony possession of the drug with the intent to deliver. All are being held at the Brown County Jail on a $10,000 bond.

The men all were arrested Thursday after authorities set up a delivery of the drug — with the help of federal agents — at The UPS Store on Military Avenue on Green Bay's west side. One of the men had a postal mailbox at the store. Authorities seized three boxes of the drug, with a street value up to $14,000.

If convicted, each faces up to six years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

"With the Somali culture getting larger in our community, it was just a matter of time before we thought we could see something like this," said John Laux, Brown County Drug Task Force supervisor.http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20111019/GPG0101/110190533/Three-men-face-charges-Brown-County-khat-bust?odyssey=tab|topnews|img|GPG-News

[undeterred]

2. Weird. Saw that on the news too.

The heroin is coming from Chicago and users are actually shooting up on East Washington/151... somebody high drove right into the front of a city bus last week. People who are addicted can't wait to go home to shoot up so they are doing it in their cars getting back on the road.