In response to a problem officials have called a heroin "epidemic," the city of Madison and Dane County will launch a partnership Monday aimed at addressing the growing number of heroin and prescription drug overdoses.
The Prevention Summit on Unintentional Drug Poisoning is the joint city-county meeting, which focuses on specific public health safety issues such as reducing access to drugs, improving poisoning intervention and substance abuse prevention, according to a statement.
Mark Woulf, city Alcohol Policy Coordinator, said that Dane County has seen an increase in overdoses because painkiller addicts come to Madison to purchase prescription drugs and heroin illegally.
People who are addicted to painkillers often seek a replacement to the expensive prescription drugs and turn to buying heroin as a cheaper substitute, according to Mayor Paul Soglin.
The city's heroin problem is "an epidemic," because of "the loss of life of productive people... the costs related to the expense of the drug" and major traffic problems, Soglin said in December.
There have been 131 heroin overdoses in Dane County in 2011, which is six times higher than in 2008, according to the Madison Police Department.
The increasing number of deaths caused by heroin and opiates, prescription drugs like OxyContin, Vicodin and morphine, is a "major concern for [the city] and something that we decided to partner with the county on," Woulf said.
Soglin and Dane County Executive Joe Parisi will partner with Safe Communities, a local organization designed to promote programs aimed at increasing safety.
"We felt they were in the best position to help us out in bringing many different partners in the community to look at the issue from multiple, different perspectives," Woulf said.
