With criticism of the War on Drugs reaching fever pitch, the Drug Enforcement Administration has added the city of Louisville, Kentucky as a testing ground for a new strategy involving law enforcement, prevention, treatment, and community outreach with the ultimate goal of fostering drug-free communities.
The agency’s “360 Strategy” hopes to solve the heroin crisis we currently find ourselves mired in. The program was first implemented in Pittsburgh last year and since then, the DEA has expanded the operation to three other cities—Milwaukee, St. Louis and Louisville. The new program in Louisville is expected to operate for a year, according to local outlet WDRB.
The DEA will partner with local organizations, healthcare workers, and local officials to help tackle the cycle of violence and addiction perpetuated by the cartels and Big Pharma.
“If you look at the investigations that we did seven years ago, the heroin cases [were] probably 25% of most of our cases,” said Thomas Gorman of the DEA. “Now nearly every one our cases has a heroin component to the investigation. We need to be vigilant in addressing drug trafficking organizations. They are bringing this in large quantities into the area and we need to stop that flow or impact that flow as much as we can.”
With 129 fatal drug overdoses in the U.S. everyday, Gorman likens drug traffickers to predators who prey on Americans, getting them hooked on heroin while enjoying the profits.
The 360 Strategy will target drug dealers on all levels, starting from the top down, Gorman says—a shift from the DEA’s practice of targeting low level, first time non-violent offenders, most of whom are only selling to get high themselves.
“These drug trafficking organizations are predators,” Gorman told WDRB. “There’s no other way to describe it. They look for the vulnerable, they exploit them by finding them while they are trying to get treatment; that’s how severe, how bad these drug trafficking organizations are to find their customer and peddle their poison.”
With the launch of the pilot program in Louisville, the DEA is getting the message out through billboards, public service announcements, and after-school programs.
“We’re going to have a summit where we are going to bring in partners from law enforcement from prevention and education, in treatment and the medical community and begin to cross lanes where we might not normally before where everybody can help each other,” Gorman said. “I think this will be significant. This is a test city, so we’ll see. I think the potential here is impactful.”