DA Early Announces Central Mass Opiate Task Force

Wednesday, March 04, 2015
GoLocal Worcester News Team

On Tuesday, Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. announced the formation of a Central Massachusetts Task Force to combat the rise of opiate abuse and overdose deaths in the county.

“We are making some great heroin trafficking arrests, but you can’t arrest your way out of the problem,” Early said, "You can’t prosecute your way out of this problem. I have said this time and time again, working hard isn’t good enough. You have to work smart and we are getting smarter and smarter on these issues. Being smart on crime means working on prevention.”

The task force brings together law enforcement, government leaders, health-care professionals and experts in the field of substance abuse.

In 2013, Massachusetts witnessed a record 978 overdose deaths with 112 of those in Worcester County.

Early said the opiate-abuse problem needs to be attacked from every possible angle, stressing the need for prevention programs, access to treatment and aggressive prosecution of drug dealers and traffickers, and application of the overdose-reversing drug Narcan by police and first-responders has already made a difference, but deaths from heroin and other opioids continue to be high.

“This is an issue that continues to cause a lot of pain, grief and tragedy,” Early said.

In addition to the county task force, Mr. Early is addressing the substance-abuse issue with three upcoming events, a Student Wellness Conference on Thursday, a SCOPE of Pain seminar for health-care providers on Monday and a Narcan training for police on a date to be determined.