Fairfax County Police to Hold Online Chat About Dangers of Heroin

A week after a drug dealer was sentenced to 25 years for selling heroin to a Fairfax County teen who later died, Fairfax County will be holding an online chat about the dangers of heroin, according to a news release.

Heroin related deaths have doubled in Northern Virginia in the last two years, according to Supervisor Pat Herrity.

Fairfax County has experienced an increase in overdoses in the past year. In 2013, there were 41 overdoses and 9 deaths linked to heroin; in 2014, there have been 56 overdoses and 15 deaths so far, according to the county.

Here are the details of next week’s online chat:

Join Captain Paul Cleveland from the Fairfax County Police Department’s Office of Organized Crime & Narcotics and Peggy Cook, director of Residential Treatment Services for the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board onMonday, Nov. 24 at 3 p.m. to discuss the dangers and prevalence of heroin and opiate use and addiction facing our community.

The number of overdoses has risen dramatically over the past three years; no one is immune. Learn more about this “national threat” we are facing here in Fairfax County, as well as how to recognize drug use, overdoses, the risks and where to find help and resources.

Questions may be submitted in advance, or join us LIVE, at:http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/askfairfax/ActiveDiscussion.aspx?roomid=99

This online chat is part of a broad, cross-discipline campaign to address the growing prevalence of heroin and opioid addiction across the region.