Township to Steer Eligible Addicts to Treatment - Free of Charge UPPER DARBY - With nearly 200 drug overdoses and 20 heroin-related deaths recorded in Upper Darby last year, township authorities are offering the police department as a "safe haven" to township drug users who voluntarily request help to find treatment. Calling drug addiction the "Number One war in America" that impacts youth as readily as middleaged men and housewives, Mayor Tom Micozzie said, "We're killing the fiber of our community ... We need to do better here in America." [continues 775 words]
CHESTER -- With as many as 14 possible cases of fentanyl-laced heroin overdoses under investigation, narcotics officers infiltrated an area of the city and arrested a suspected dealer within three hours Wednesday, authorities said. No deaths have been reported in connection with the ongoing investigation, though two people who arrived at Crozer-Chester Medical Center on Tuesday remained on a ventilator Wednesday, according to city narcotics Sgt. Joseph Bail. "This stuff gives new meaning to the idea of heroin being deadly," said Bail, who along with city Police Commissioner John Finnegan issued a stern warning to potential heroin customers. [continues 574 words]
CHESTER - Two deaths may be linked to a rash of bad heroin that has sickened as many as 16 people and resulted in the arrest of 13 people since Monday. Delaware County Medical Examiner Dr. Fredric N. Hellman said he would conduct two autopsies today on "two individuals where drug use is one of the potential considerations," though definitive test results could take weeks. In the meantime, Chester Narcotics Sgt. Joseph Bail said on Thursday that investigators have found a more potent brand of bad heroin - which is heroin laced with fentanyl - in packages labeled "Takeover" for sale on city streets. "This stuff is more like fentanyl laced with heroin than the other way around," Bail said. [continues 424 words]