NORRISTOWN >> The attention of law enforcement officials throughout Montgomery County has been sharply focused on drug addiction and overdose deaths, as the problem has been increasing at an alarming rate over the last several years.
On Tuesday, District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman gathered with county police chiefs and the Montgomery County Overdose Task Force to announce more measures to fight drug addiction and aid response to overdoses, including a prescription drug take-back event and the use of overdose-reversing drug Naloxone.
“Drug addiction and overdose is a comprehensive problem that demands a comprehensive response,” Ferman said.
This comes on the heels of Sen. Bob Casey’s visit to Norristown to promote expanding the federal block grant that funds addiction recovery programs, along with a major heroin ring bust in the Pottstown area last week.
Casey spoke at Guadenzia treatment center in Norristown alongside Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh, who highlighted the increase of deaths from overdoses in the county.
“The number of heroin deaths in 2014 was 64, that represents a 39 percent increase from 2013, just in that one year,” Arkoosh said.
That increase in overdose deaths is one of the reasons the District Attorney’s Office and law enforcement officials are providing boxes for residents to safely dispose of prescription drugs, which Ferman said plays an important part in preventing teenagers from abusing narcotics. According to a press release from the District Attorney’s Office, an estimated 3 million teenagers will become addicted to prescription medications this year.
New MedReturn drug disposal units have been added to East and West Norriton police departments, funded by the Pennsylvanian American Water Company, whose president Kathy L. Pape highlighted another reason for residents to safely dispose of prescription drugs.
“We support this partnership because it helps to spread an important message to the public: don’t flush medications down the toilet, where they would eventually end up in our waterways,” Pape said the release.
In addition to the new units, a Drug Take-Back Day was announced for Oct. 17, at 24 police departments across the county. Residents can bring prescription medications to Pottstown, Royersford, East and West Norriton, Limerick, Abington, Conshohocken, Upper Merion and many other police departments between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. For a full list of locations, visit montcopa.org/da.
While the take-back efforts arm the county in a fight to prevent addiction, another measure is being taken to save the lives of those who are already on the path to a drug overdose. Ferman announced that drug forfeiture assets, paired with funding from Capital BlueCross Insurance, will help supply more first responders in the county with Naloxone, which Ferman called a “game-changer.”
Montgomery County first responders have already saved 16 lives using Naloxone in April, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs. In Limerick Township alone, there have been three instances of police using the drug to combat an overdose.
Limerick Police Chief William Albany said in a press release that all three victims were found unresponsive by family members, who called 911.
“The officers were the first to arrive on the scene, before EMS, where they assessed the situation,” Albany said. “Upon finding the victim to be unresponsive, the officers administered Naloxone, and within 30 seconds each victim regained consciousness, and a potential tragedy was averted.”
While the one-two punch of drug take-backs and Naloxone is aimed to prevent addiction and response to overdoses, respectively, there is still more work to be done. As Sen. Casey highlighted last week in Norristown, treatment and recovery are an important factors as well. First Assistant District Attorney Kevin Steele said in a press release Tuesday that the county will continue to work on all fronts to prevent the deadly impact of drug addiction.
“As amazing as Naloxone is, more work is needed on the intervention and treatment side of the issue. Our office and our task forces’ efforts are focused in education and prevention, to help people avoid getting into these situations with dangerously addictive drugs in the first place,” Steele said. “Hopefully having Naloxone in our police cars will provide first responders with a tool to provide some overdose victims with a second chance at life and with it, hopefully a realization they’ve been given a gift and an opportunity to turn their life around.”
