Justice Department to launch 'enforcement surge' in Maine, elsewhere to fight opioids

[jpak]

Source: Portland Press Herald

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is launching a program that seeks to reduce the supply of synthetic opioids in areas with high overdose rates – including Maine – by cracking down on suppliers.

Operation Synthetic Opioid Surge, or S.O.S., will involve an “enforcement surge” in 10 U.S. districts that have among the highest drug overdose death rates, including the district that encompasses the entire state of Maine, according to a U.S. Department of Justice statement issued Thursday.

Each participating U.S. Attorney’s Office will choose a specific county and “prosecute every readily provable case involving the distribution of fentanyl, fentanyl analogues and other synthetic opioids, regardless of drug quantity,” the statement said. In Maine, the focus will be on Cumberland County, it said.

The enforcement surge will involve a coordinated U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration operation to ensure that leads from street-level cases are used to identify larger-scale distributors, the statement said. Details of how the program will accomplish its goals or differ from existing law enforcement efforts weren’t outlined in the statement.

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Read more: https://www.pressherald.com/2018/07/12/doj-to-launch-enforcement-surge-targeting-opioid-dealers/

[Phoenix61]

1. They are really big on "lock em up" aren't they

Increasing the number of rehab facilities and addressing underlying socio-economic conditions that fuel addiction wouldn't keep the for-profit prisons full.

[Lonestarblue]

2. I must the part where the DOJ cracks down on the opiod pushers in the pharmaceutical industry.

Of course, that would be tackling part of the problem and Republicans only address a symptom instead of the underlying disease. I wish someone would finally declare the war on drugs a failure and do something that actually makes a difference.

[Wounded Bear]

3. Translation: "We need more for-profit prisons"

Because "cracking down" has worked so well in the past.

[marble falls]

4. Wait until the DoJ surge at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave starts panning out.