How Do You Solve a Problem Like Addiction?

KENDALL COUNTY, IL — It’s no secret that heroin and opioid abuse is ravaging addicts in Kendall County and across Illinois.

To fight that, Kendall County Board Chair John Shaw, Kendall County Sheriff Dwight A. Baird, and Commander Mike Peters attended a meeting Aug. 30 on combating heroin in Illinois with other government officials from the 14th District of Illinois, according to a news release from the Kendall County Sheriff's Office.

The meeting was led by 14th District Congressman Randy Hultgren and officials participated in a discussion which featured updates on the heroin problem and the progress being made to combat the problem. There was an update on the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016 (CARA) which was signed into law by President Barack Obama on July 22, 2016.

CARA authorizes the Attorney General and Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to address the prescription opioid abuse and heroin use crisis. CARA has a section dedicated to law enforcement and treatment which provides grants for law enforcement officers to be trained to help combat the problems of opioid abuse and heroin use.

Kendall County Sheriff’s Deputies are aware of the heroin crisis and have been trained to identify situations involving opioid overdoses. Our patrol deputies carry and are trained to administer Intranasal Naloxone, commonly known as Narcan. Narcan is administered to help reverse the effects of opioids such as heroin, methadone, and oxycodone.

“On occasions, deputies have saved lives by administering Narcan. The passage of CARA will hopefully allow deputies to continue to have the most up to date training and life saving techniques available to help combat opioid abuse and heroin use,” said Sheriff Dwight A. Baird.

For more information regarding CARA please visit: https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/524/text