Roanoke, VIRGINIA - On Aug. 10, 2017, the President declared the opioid crisis to be a national emergency. Just yesterday, Attorney General Sessions stated, “With one American dying of a drug overdose every nine minutes, we are facing the deadliest drug crisis in American history."
According to United States Attorney Rick Mountcastle, “Our community must work together to solve this crisis using a three-pronged approach: provide access to treatment and recovery for family, friends, and neighbors suffering from the disease of opioid and heroin addiction; prevention programs to raise awareness about the dangers of opioids; and targeted law enforcement."
In the coming weeks, United States Attorney Mountcastle will attend four community conversations about opioid and heroin abuse hosted by the Roanoke Valley Opioid and Heroin Task Force in collaboration with the Prevention Council of Roanoke County. These events will include law enforcement updates, personal stories about the impact of opioids and heroin, and other important information, and will be an opportunity to join together to combat this crisis.
The schedule for these free events is as follows:
1. January 18 at 6:00 p.m. - Northside High School Auditorium
2. January 22 at 6:00 p.m. - Cave Spring High School Auditorium
3. January 25 at 6:30 p.m. - William Fleming High School
4. February 15 at 6:30 p.m. - Patrick Henry High School
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
