Delaware to get federal money to combat heroin epidemic

Delaware will receive a chunk of federal funding to combine law enforcement and public health efforts to reduce trafficking, distribution and use of heroin under a new White House initiative.

Michael Botticelli, director of the National Drug Control Policy, announced Monday that states with high-intensity drug-trafficking areas will receive a portion of $13.4 million to support new efforts to combat the nation's growing drug epidemic along the East Coast.

The push will concentrate on prevention and data collection, rather than punishment, officials said.

"We can't just arrest our way out of this problem," Gov. Jack Markell said during a press conference at Christiana Care Health System's Newark campus on Monday.

Specifically, $2.5 million will fund the "Heroin Response Strategy," which will create public health-public safety partnerships across 15 states to fight drug use in five high-intensity drug-trafficking regions including Appalachia, New England, Philadelphia/Camden, New York/New Jersey and Washington/Baltimore.

The money will fund a new drug intelligence officer and public health analyst in each of the 15 states to help share information across state lines to regionally report where drug overdoses are occurring and increase awareness and education to prevent addiction.

Botticelli said the information will help the states respond as quickly as possible to wherever the problem is concentrated.

"To deal with this opioid epidemic really requires a comprehensive response. What this initiative really does is, I think, allow for really good information sharing, collaboration of intel and public safety issues," he said.

New Castle County was added to the Philadelphia/Camden region and designated a high-intensity drug-trafficking area by the feds in January. Officials say it is too early to tell how much funding will be distributed here.

While the heroin epidemic has been ravaging families statewide, data shows New Castle County has been a hotspot.

The News Journal has reported that in 2014 there were 36 deaths and 91 overdoses specifically tied to heroin reported to New Castle County Police. During that same year, there were 642 arrests for heroin-related incidents in the county.

The county plans to spend $500,000 over the next year on a campaign, called the Heroin Trap, aimed at preventing heroin use by young people.

"If we don't educate our next generation on heroin, we are going to be doing this all over again, said New Castle County Police Chief Elmer Setting in an interview after the press conference.

Setting said he was "very excited" about the money. The push for more information sharing doesn't point to a lapse or breakdown in communication, he said. Departments, including the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration, are just overwhelmed.

"The truth is the volume is so serious that we can't keep up with it," Setting said.

The department is one of three that have officers trained on how to carry and use naloxone, an overdose-reversing drug. Naloxone, also known as Narcan, can be administered with an EpiPen or nasal spray.

So far this year, eight people have been revived.

Setting said people need to start being honest about and aware of the heroin problem.

"It's not that we are not policing the problem. It's not only a police problem; this is a society problem," he said.

Jen Rini can be reached at (302) 324-2386 or jrini@delawareonline.com. Follow @JenRini on Twitter.