West Virginia calls in National Guard to tackle opioid crisis

[truth_seeker]

West Virginia calls in National Guard to tackle opioid crisis
 
By Rick Leventhal | Fox News February 9th

People expect to see the Army National Guard during disasters.

In Huntington, W.Va., the guard has been called in to help tackle the opioid crisis — which the governor has described as a disaster.

“We have to stop this terrible drug epidemic,” West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said. “We have to. If we don't, it will cannibalize us."

Huntington has been called the overdose capital of America, with double the national average of overdoses, due in part to the decline of the coal industry, a lack of jobs and the easy availability of the drugs. And law enforcement is stretched thin.

“I don't think there is a police department in America that has all the resources they need,” Huntington Police Chief Hank Dial said. “It is a complex problem and it needed a complex solution."

The guard is flying its Lakota helicopters on reconnaissance missions in coordination with local police, providing eyes in the sky during busts and while serving warrants.

But its primary role is technical and analytical support.

Guardsman, who asked not to be identified, are manning hotlines and working on computers inside Huntington Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Bureau, helping track down dealers and drug networks so cops can focus on the street.

On Wednesday, the guard answered a call that led to the bust of an alleged dealer and the recovery of 430 grams of fentanyl, far more powerful than heroin, with a street value of $86,000.

“We are solving a problem in our country,” said Maj. Gen. James Hoyer, a West Virginia National Guard commander. “And, at the same time, making sure we have the highest level of readiness to respond to something else that may be out there, somewhere else in the world."

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http://www.foxnews.com/health/2018/02/09/west-virginia-calls-in-national-guard-to-tackle-opioid-crisis.htmlTwitter

[To-Whose-Benefit?]

Gee, apparently WV doesn't think this is a 'Worthless Issue'.

Imagine that.

I'd like to know how many people in WV will be dying in agony from cancer because the National Guard is going to be raiding Their Doctor's offices./SSSSS

[GtHawk]

Gee, apparently WV doesn't think this is a 'Worthless Issue'.

Imagine that.

I'd like to know how many people in WV will be dying in agony from cancer because the National Guard is going to be raiding Their Doctor's offices./SSSSS

It's not a worthless issue, but the attack on all prescription opioids is grandstanding. If the problem is prescriptions tell me what the National Guard is going to about it? The problem is mostly illegal and dangerously manufactured drugs being sold on the street by criminals and I anticipate as much success in this as all the rest of the war on drugs. Mind you I want dangerous and illegal drugs off the street, I just don't believe they will be any more successful now as they were in the past.