Law enforcement and prosecutors are continuing to tackle Bucks County’s heroin epidemic head on.
Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
Assistant District Attorney Matt Weintraub spoke before local residents and area officials inside Tullytown Borough hall last Thursday night.
Advertisements
The message: heroin is killing people and everyone needs to work together to stop it.
Over the past few years, heroin deaths and near-death overdoses have risen throughout the county.
“Heroin has a stranglehold on our communities,” Weintraub said. “What we’re experiencing nowadays is the heroin epidemic encroaching on a lot of different peoples lives.”
Advertisements
During his presentation, Weintraub told the audience of the different ways heroin can be obtained and the risks associated with it.
The assistant district attorney said many heroin addicts start with prescription medications and move to “dirt cheap” heroin that is sold within the region.
Advertisements
“You can get one bag of heroin for $5. You do the math, it’s a lot cheaper to be hooked on heroin.”
He added that many teens start using prescription drugs because they think they are safer than street drugs.
Weintraub also warned that heroin users often steal and commit burglaries to help pay for their unlawful habit. He showed a video where one former user man said he stole $27,000 and a wedding from his mother to help pay for the drug.
Advertisements
“When a junkie needs drugs, he or she will stop at nothing and end up robbing, burglarizing and stealing,” he told the group.
County authorities and local police have ramped up efforts in the past few months to battle heroin and related crimes. Weintraub said a county-wide information clearinghouse has been established.
Advertisements
Weintraub‘s presentation, which has been shown to high schoolers and kids in the county youth detention center, included a photo of a box of heroin recovered just about a mile from the county courthouse. The prosecutor made the case that drugs like heroin are impacting all parts of the county.
Tullytown Mayor Dave Cutchineal said illegal drug use is rampant throughout the county and that is why he wanted Weintraub to come to Tullytown to talk to residents. With the support of council and Chief of Police Daniel Doyle the presentation was scheduled, Cutchineal said.
Advertisements
When speaking on whether the war of drugs is a battle that can be won, Weintraub said he wasn’t sure.
“To be honest with you, I’m not sure. But the moment we stop, it just gets worse and claims so many of our young ones.”
Advertisements
Related:
