In the wake of a rash of heroin and opioid overdoses in Connecticut, federal authorities are teaming up with local cops to target the dealers responsible for peddling the fatal drugs.
U.S. Attorney Deirdre M. Daly, surrounded by local police chiefs, announced the initiative at a Wednesday afternoon press conference at her 25th-floor Church Street office suite.
The initiative has focused on 20 heroin or opioid overdoses that have occurred already in “this terrible epidemic,” Daly said. They lived in communities ranging from Greenwich to Shelton to New Haven to Enfield to Woodbridge. Statewide, 90 overdoses were reported in all were reported in the first two months of 2016.
Daly said the Drug Enforcement Administration, state and local police, and prosecutors from her office have since January been investigating overdose cases by, for starters, considering each overdose a crime scene. That means swiftly collecting evidence, requiring autopsies, and using other “time-sensitive investigative techniques” with all agencies working in concert.
The goal is to track the trail of the drug to the dealer, so the dealer can be locked up.
In cases in which the government can prove that the dealer knew the product could harm the customer, prosecutors hope to bring manslaughter charges when possible, said Deputy Chief State’s Attorney Leonard C. Boyle.
DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge Brian D. Boyle spoke of how drug dealers have increased the potency — and therefore deadliness — of street heroin by mixing it with fentanyl.
After the authorities spoke, Daly invited Bill and Susan Phillips to the lectern. The Phillipses lost their 26-year-old son Ryan to an overdose in 2014; the feds successfully prosecuted the dealer who sold Ryan Phillips the fatal drug, leading to a 65-month prison sentence. The Phillipses urged parents not to ignore signs of their children’s drug use, so they can try to get help in time, especially after a non-fatal overdose.
“Get treatment for [your] family members right away and [don’t] just write it off as, ‘They survived another bullet,” Bill Phillips said. “… Really go out there and get the education you need … There are signs you can look for if your child is suspected of being on drugs.”
Daly was asked if legalizing heroin would make law enforcement’s job easier while helping more addicts get treatment.
“The problem is,” Daly responded, that “four out of five heroin addicts started with opioids, started with oxycontin. In many cases they have been prescribed oxycontin. In other cases youngsters get it from their parents’ medical cabinets. It is so highly addictive, it becomes too expensive for anyone to manage,” so they switch to heroin, which costs $3 for a hit that previously cost $30.
“So I don’t think that [legalization] would really solve it,” Daly said.
NARCS should be legal, period. People die because they dont have access to info and FDA approved drugs. War on Drugs is a joke and that's what killing people. Also people in real pain are denied help by docs afraid of legal consequences.