May 22, 2022, (Naperville Sun - Gary Gibula) - A new specialty court to handle first-time opioid offenders is one of several ways DuPage County officials proposed Tuesday to step up efforts to deal with what they said is becoming an emergency situation.
Members of the county's Heroin Opioid Prevention and Education task force, speaking at a press conference in the county board chambers, announced five specific strategies they will pursue to be funded with $100,000 in the county budget.
"This crisis reaches beyond what many people realize," DuPage County Health Department Executive Director Karen Ayala said. "Current estimates are that 200 people a day die from opioid-related overdoses. It easily eclipses other public health emergencies in recent times, including HIV and drunk driving deaths."
The strategies cited will target drug access, opioid use and misuse, overdose response, intervention treatment and recovery, and substance abuse prevention and education.
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