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The Department of Justice will create a working group on prescription opioid abuse in the Appalachian region as part of a series of measures to combat a drug epidemic that has cost the lives at 72,000 Americans, said Thursday the Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Dubbed the Appalachian Regional Strike Force, the group will consist of 12 new opioid fraud attorneys backed up by a team of law enforcement officers. It will operate in southern Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia, regions hard hit by the opioid crisis.
"They will help us find doctors, pharmacists and all kinds of professionals who flood our streets with drugs and put them behind bars," said Sessions at the Department of Justice's first National Opioid Summit. "We can not allow this to continue. We will be relentless. We will continue to be smarter and better in our work. "
The strike force will utilize the resources of the Ministry's Health Fraud Unit, US attorneys from nine federal districts in five states, and FBI law enforcement officers, the Office of the Inspector General. of drugs and the US Department of Health and Social Services. He will also work closely with investigators from US Postal Service, IRS and Medicaid units.
Operating on two centers, one in Cincinnati / Northern Kentucky and the other in Nashville, Tennessee, the strike force will support law enforcement officers in five districts.
The announcement comes a day after President Trump enacted a major opioid law to mark "a year of action" by the administration in the fight against the epidemic. Features of the bill include provisions to promote research to find new non-drug drugs for pain dependence and to expand access to treatment for addiction-related disorders in Medicaid patients.
Trump signed the bill Wednesday to mark the first anniversary of his birthday since his government declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency.
More than 72,000 Americans died from a drug overdose in 2017, an increase of 7% over 2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Opioids were linked to 49,000 of these deaths.
"The stakes have never been higher," said Sessions. "We have never seen the challenge we have today, but our determination has never been stronger."
Mr. Sessions stated that progress had been made. He cited the statistics of the Drug Enforcement Administration, which indicate a 12% drop in the number of opioid prescriptions in the first five months of 2018 compared to the same time of the year. former.
Also on Thursday, Sessions announced that the Department of Justice will allocate $ 70 million to fight the opioid epidemic on two fronts.
Approximately $ 35 million will be allocated to law enforcement agencies fighting the manufacture and distribution of methamphetamines and opioids. The other half will be used to provide victim services to children affected by the opioid crisis.
The community-based police services of the Department of Justice have allocated more than $ 27.8 million to 17 working groups of state law enforcement agencies to investigate the distribution of heroin or illegal distribution of drugs. # 39; opioids prescription.
An additional $ 7.2 million will be allocated to nine law enforcement agencies that have seized many methamphetamine laboratories.
Of the funds allocated to children's services, $ 29.8 million was allocated to 41 sites and a technical assistance provider. The money is added to the $ 4.8 million in funds transferred from the Bureau of Justice Assistance to support partnerships between victim service providers and first responders who experience an overdose in the presence of a victim. children.
In addition, funds will be used to fund school-based programs, foster care and child protection programs, counseling and assistance programs, advocacy programs and other programs. children's rights and civil law services, the department said.
The community-based police services of the Department of Justice have allocated more than $ 27.8 million to 17 working groups of state law enforcement agencies to investigate the distribution of heroin or illegal distribution of drugs. # 39; opioids prescription.
"These steps bring us one step closer to resolving this crisis," Sessions said in a statement ahead of the department's national opioid summit.
The $ 70 million granted on Thursday adds to the $ 320 million that the ministry allocated earlier this month to organizations across the country to help prevent, treat and treat cancer. laws.
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