Attorney General Herring talks opioids with local community partners

Local agencies are requesting more money to combat issue

BEDFORD, Va. – Attorney General Mark Herring is on a mission to combat the heroin and opioid epidemic in Virginia and across the country.

That’s why he stopped in Bedford Tuesday to talk about his latest efforts.

Herring said combating the growing opioid epidemic in the commonwealth starts when everyone comes to the table.

"When different agencies and organizations who are on the front lines of this are communicating well with each other, it sort of works like a force multiplier," Herring said.

That's why he brought local law enforcement officers, community partners and medical professionals together to talk about the impact to people in southwest Virginia.

"We’re seeing opioids, we're seeing heroin, we're seeing pills," Bedford police Chief Todd Foreman said.

Bedford County and town leaders said they've seen a huge increase in the number of people using opioids. So far this year, they've already seen more than 100 overdose deaths compared to 40 last year.

"We have a need for people to receive treatments for heroin addictions and we have people that are overdosing, we have people that are having children addicted to heroin and other opiate drugs," Foreman said.

Representatives from local agencies say it's straining their resources. That’s why they're asking the state for more money.

"We’re doing everything we can so we have stepped up our prosecutions against dealers and traffickers who are profiting off addiction, but we're coupling that with very innovative prevention and education efforts," Herring said.


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