RALEIGH, N.C. - U.S. Attorney Michael F. Easley, Jr. today announced $1,199,747 in a Department of Justice grant was awarded to the Wake County Sheriff’s Office’s Opioid Abuse Management Program. The grant was awarded by the Department’s Bureau of Justice Assistance.
Though the effects of the current global pandemic have been felt here locally, the community has been fighting another deadly epidemic for many years now. Opioids are devastating lives in North Carolina. Per the North Carolina Injury and Violence Prevention Branch, an estimated 79% of drug overdose deaths involved opioids in 2018; for a total of 1,783 fatalities. In 2019, an average of 6 people died daily from medication in North Carolina, an increase of 120% over the last ten years. As unintentional overdoses continued to rise, The Wake County Sheriff's Office (WCSO) proposed its Opioid Abuse Management Program to protect the public against the emerging threat of overdoses and to reduce the number of opioid related fatalities in Wake County.
By implementing the Opioid Abuse Management Program, WCSO intends to use awarded funds to purchase enough Naloxone to fully supply each division of deputies with the reversal drug, as well as handheld narcotics analyzers. These handheld narcotics analyzers will allow WCSO to reduce the impact of opioids on individuals and communities by enabling deputies to scan for more than 498 suspected controlled substances in a single test. In efforts to combat the horrific opioid dependency problem among residents, the grant will also fund a WCSO detox unit to assist with the effects of withdraw for residents.
In addition to other initiatives, WCSO will also implement a partnership with a behavioral health clinic and treatment provider to expand their comprehensive efforts to respond to, treat, and support those impacted by illicit opioids, stimulants, and other drugs of abuse.
More information about OJP and its components can be found at www.ojp.gov.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
