NEW ORLEANS — Orleans, Jefferson and St. Bernard parishes will be part of a DEA program aimed at battling the opioid and heroin crisis.
The program, called “360 Strategy” will approach the problem through education, diversion and law enforcement.
“More deaths due to opioids and heroin than gun violence in the city of New Orleans,” said New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell. “When an individual is impacted, the entire family is impacted and the community comes along with them.”
The ‘three-pronged approach’ to the problem will work through education, by going out actively and talking about the dangers of drugs; diversion, by trying to limit the number and size of prescriptions and law enforcement; and by cracking down on those dealing opioids. A spokesperson for the DEA said the organization would “do what we do best, disrupt drug organizations.”