CAMP HILL, Pa. – More police officers in our area will now carry a drug that is saving lives across Central Pennsylvania. Cumberland County District Attorney David Freed announced that several police departments throughout the county will now be equipped with the anti-overdose drug naloxone.
It’s part of a new initiative to give law enforcement another tool to fight heroin abuse in their communities.
“We had 35 overdose deaths in 2014,” Freed said, “and as of today we are at 38 for 2015, and 16 of those are confirmed heroin overdoses.”
Last week’s report by the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs showed that naloxone reversed nearly 300 drug overdoses statewide since police started carrying the drug.
State Senator Pat Vance says it’s time for the area to discuss the problem and give addicts another chance at life.
“I think sometimes people have the misconception that anybody that had a heroin overdose was a no good person,” Vance said, “That is so far from the truth. Nobody started out [with an addiction], and I think we have to realize this.”
Police departments in the county that will be equipped with the drug include Camp Hill, East Pennsboro Township, and Mechanicsburg.
