Doug Wilson, Herald-Whig
"We need a forum composed of law enforcement officers, medical professionals and community leaders who are facing this distressing problem so that we all can address it," LaHood said in a release.
Forums are being pursued by the Office of National Drug Control Policy. LaHood wrote to the White House asking for a forum in the region due to the spike in overdose deaths in Central Illinois.
"More Americans die annually from drug overdoses than they do motor vehicle crashes every year, and the number of opioid-related deaths is only growing, especially in Illinois," he said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports opioid related deaths increased by 16 percent, and heroin-related deaths increased by over 28 percent from 2013 to 2014. The state of Illinois had an 8.3 percent increase of drug overdose deaths between 2013 and 2014. Last year, law enforcement seized more than 20 pounds of heroin and over 226 pounds of pharmaceutical and other opioid drugs in the 18th district alone.
Quincy Police Chief Rob Copley would welcome an education campaign on heroin and opioids.
"The frequency of heroin overdoses in the Quincy community has skyrocketed in the past year, so much so, that officers of the Quincy Police Department now carry opioid antidote in the form of Naloxone injectors," Copley said.
