In 2016, 64,000 Americans died of drug overdose – about two thirds of them linked to opioids. Overdose deaths have risen fivefold since 1999, and the crisis has evolved over the years, with prescription opioids giving way to heroin and illicit fentanyl as the primary drivers of the epidemic.
Law enforcement officers are on the front lines of addressing this nationwide crisis. They are often the first to arrive on the scene of an overdose. They encounter and respond to the consequences of addiction every day. They see the toll the crisis is taking on communities, and they have a critical role to play in influencing how communities address it.
Read more here: http://americanhealth.jhu.edu/article/policing-and-opioid-crisis-standards-care