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Heroin pilot program partners law enforcement with harm prevention Heroin pilot program partners law enforcement with harm prevention
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Police and public health experts trying to stem the “severe threat” of heroin trafficking and addiction in the US will work together for the first time under a federal program that focuses more on prevention, emergency treatment and rehabilitation than on punishing users.Police and public health experts trying to stem the “severe threat” of heroin trafficking and addiction in the US will work together for the first time under a federal program that focuses more on prevention, emergency treatment and rehabilitation than on punishing users.
Related: Rapid rise of heroin use in US tied to prescription opioid abuse, CDC suggests
The new heroin response strategy announced by the White House on Monday is a pilot program across 15 states that will pair drug intelligence officials from law enforcement with public health professionals to coordinate action ranging from “disruption of the heroin supply” to issuing alerts about tainted batches of the drug and improving youth prevention strategies.The new heroin response strategy announced by the White House on Monday is a pilot program across 15 states that will pair drug intelligence officials from law enforcement with public health professionals to coordinate action ranging from “disruption of the heroin supply” to issuing alerts about tainted batches of the drug and improving youth prevention strategies.
The teams will cover a swath of the US stretching from Maine to Tennessee, where authorities are struggling with problems such as cheap street heroin being laced with high-potency narcotics and people who are becoming addicts in alarming numbers, particularly in small rural towns with little history of the drug.The teams will cover a swath of the US stretching from Maine to Tennessee, where authorities are struggling with problems such as cheap street heroin being laced with high-potency narcotics and people who are becoming addicts in alarming numbers, particularly in small rural towns with little history of the drug.
“We are trying to connect the dots. Where is the heroin coming from? We are the end user and it’s coming down here and this is where the chain stops and people die. This is not a regular law enforcement initiative; we don’t just want to put people in jail,” Frank Rapier, the director of the Appalachia regional office of the federal high-intensity drug trafficking area program (HIDTA), told the Guardian.“We are trying to connect the dots. Where is the heroin coming from? We are the end user and it’s coming down here and this is where the chain stops and people die. This is not a regular law enforcement initiative; we don’t just want to put people in jail,” Frank Rapier, the director of the Appalachia regional office of the federal high-intensity drug trafficking area program (HIDTA), told the Guardian.
His office covers Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia and he will work with counterparts in four other HIDTA regions covering the areas – New England, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia/Camden and Baltimore/Washington – which have been chosen for the one-year pilot program.His office covers Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia and he will work with counterparts in four other HIDTA regions covering the areas – New England, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia/Camden and Baltimore/Washington – which have been chosen for the one-year pilot program.
Everyone is in their own ‘silo’ and there are walls and barriers, which we don’t want in this fight
Experts are scrambling to deal with the rise in overdose deaths sparked by large numbers of people who had become dependent on prescription opioid painkillers then switched to heroin as a result of crackdowns on the flow of illegal or over-prescribed pills and the availability of cheap heroin.Experts are scrambling to deal with the rise in overdose deaths sparked by large numbers of people who had become dependent on prescription opioid painkillers then switched to heroin as a result of crackdowns on the flow of illegal or over-prescribed pills and the availability of cheap heroin.
The rate of drug deaths involving heroin quadrupled in the US between 2000 and 2013 from 0.7 deaths per 100,000 to 2.7 deaths per 100,000, with most of the increase occurring after 2010, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The rate of drug deaths involving heroin quadrupled in the US between 2000 and 2013, from 0.7 deaths per 100,000 to 2.7 deaths per 100,000, with most of the increase occurring after 2010, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The rate among non-Hispanic white men aged 18 to 44 is seven per 100,000, the hardest-hit segment of the population, the CDC reported, while deaths from all drug overdoses has been the primary cause of injury-related fatalities in the US since 2009, causing almost 44,000 deaths in 2013. The rate among non-Hispanic white men aged 18 to 44, the hardest-hit segment of the population, is seven per 100,000, the CDC reported, while deaths from all drug overdoses has been the primary cause of injury-related fatalities in the US since 2009, causing almost 44,000 deaths in 2013.
The White House national drug control policy office announced on Monday that it was putting $13m into new strategies to reduce the trafficking, distribution and use of heroin, including the “unprecedented partnership” between and within the five HIDTA centers aimed at linking crime-fighting and healthcare strategies.The White House national drug control policy office announced on Monday that it was putting $13m into new strategies to reduce the trafficking, distribution and use of heroin, including the “unprecedented partnership” between and within the five HIDTA centers aimed at linking crime-fighting and healthcare strategies.
Rapier said it was the first time law enforcement and public health experts would specifically work together under a federal program to tackle the “new heroin epidemic”.Rapier said it was the first time law enforcement and public health experts would specifically work together under a federal program to tackle the “new heroin epidemic”.
“Everyone is in their own ‘silo’ and there are walls and barriers, which we don’t want in this fight – law enforcement have always kept their distance, we thought we didn’t need anyone else, and sometimes doctors are difficult people to tell anything to, they often think they are the smartest – but everyone needs to put their egos aside so we can save lives,” he said. “Everyone is in their own ‘silo’ and there are walls and barriers, which we don’t want in this fight – law enforcement have always kept their distance, we thought we didn’t need anyone else, and sometimes doctors are difficult people to tell anything to. They often think they are the smartest – but everyone needs to put their egos aside so we can save lives,” he said.
Related: Rapid rise of heroin use in US tied to prescription opioid abuse, CDC suggests
Rapier, who is from a federal law enforcement background, said many police officers had to come around to the idea that many drug addicts need a second or third chance to kick heroin without punishment, and controversial services such as public needle exchanges can work.Rapier, who is from a federal law enforcement background, said many police officers had to come around to the idea that many drug addicts need a second or third chance to kick heroin without punishment, and controversial services such as public needle exchanges can work.
Heroin is arriving in his region from the north-east of the US, where it is flooding in from Mexico, he said.Heroin is arriving in his region from the north-east of the US, where it is flooding in from Mexico, he said.
Addicts “are not throwaway people” and the swift and alarming path to heroin from prescription opioid addiction is “turning lives upside down”, he said.Addicts “are not throwaway people” and the swift and alarming path to heroin from prescription opioid addiction is “turning lives upside down”, he said.
The governor of Vermont, Peter Shumlin, used his entire state of the state address in 2014 to raise the alarm on a “full-blown heroin crisis” that had hit small towns, cities and remote communities in his largely rural state.The governor of Vermont, Peter Shumlin, used his entire state of the state address in 2014 to raise the alarm on a “full-blown heroin crisis” that had hit small towns, cities and remote communities in his largely rural state.
Chauncey Parker, director of the New York/New Jersey HIDTA, said the White House initiative was designed to speed up the flow of information between agencies and states along the supply chain, from the source of the heroin to its intended customers, while focusing on prevention and treatment at the consumer end.Chauncey Parker, director of the New York/New Jersey HIDTA, said the White House initiative was designed to speed up the flow of information between agencies and states along the supply chain, from the source of the heroin to its intended customers, while focusing on prevention and treatment at the consumer end.
Police and health experts also want more accurate and swifter data from sources such as hospitals and medical examiners’ offices about non-fatal and fatal overdoses involving heroin, to identify acute drug problems or how emergency responders are dealing with the public, he said.Police and health experts also want more accurate and swifter data from sources such as hospitals and medical examiners’ offices about non-fatal and fatal overdoses involving heroin, to identify acute drug problems or how emergency responders are dealing with the public, he said.
Parker wants more first responders, including police, firefighters and emergency medical personnel to be trained to carry and use the antidote naloxone, which can quickly reverse the effects of a heroin overdose. Parker wants more first responders, including police, firefighters and emergency medical personnel, to be trained to carry and use the antidote naloxone, which can quickly reverse the effects of a heroin overdose.
“That is a critical part of this and we want to make sure we have the information so that wherever there is a cluster of overdoses, the responders out in the field can react,” he said.“That is a critical part of this and we want to make sure we have the information so that wherever there is a cluster of overdoses, the responders out in the field can react,” he said.
Parker said he is aiming to ensure the pilot initiative is successful for the year it has been allocated funding and can be extended into a permanent program.Parker said he is aiming to ensure the pilot initiative is successful for the year it has been allocated funding and can be extended into a permanent program.
Rapier added that the money announced in the White House initiative on Monday was not a large amount “in dollars” but was vital in terms of the principle of exploring a new approach to a problem that is “devastating” for those it affects and has blown up relatively recently in some areas.Rapier added that the money announced in the White House initiative on Monday was not a large amount “in dollars” but was vital in terms of the principle of exploring a new approach to a problem that is “devastating” for those it affects and has blown up relatively recently in some areas.