Bucks Officials Urging Public To Join County's War on Heroin
By Brad Segall
DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (CBS) -- Prosecutors in Bucks County, Pa. are kicking off what they're calling an aggressive, multifaceted program to combat the escalating use of heroin in the county.
Prosecutors believe the pipeline to Bucks County is coming from Philadelphia. They say dealers are putting potent heroin on the streets, taking a steep toll on addicts.
There were 19 heroin overdose deaths in Bucks County in 2011. Last year there were 38.
County prosecutor Matthew Weintraub says investigators asking for intelligence from the community to help them lock up the dealers.
"We want to grab the public by the throat and shake them into the reality that this is killing our kids -- their kids, the kids in Bucks County," Weintraub said today. "Drug dealers are killing Bucks County's kids."
He says that authorities need to reduce the demand, eliminate the supply, and prosecute people who are spreading what they call an "agent of death." They are setting up hotlines and tiplines so information can be submitted by phone, e-mail, or text -- anonymously if they wish.