Starting March 1st a new program the Drug Abatement Response Team or DART will begin in Cumberland to help combat the heroin epidemic. According to Cumberland Police Captain Greg Leake the idea for DART came out of the Safe Streets Initiative that the police department has been operating under for the past several years. The Drug Abatement Response Team will respond to the home of anyone who overdoses within 24 hours a uniformed police officer, a Western Maryland Health Systems crisis councilor and possibly a parole or probation officer in order to get that person help. Leake says the goal is to provide help to those who are overdosing. He says the DART program is the first of its kind in Maryland. Leake says they can not arrest their way out of the heroin epidemic and they are constantly trying to find new ways to get help to those who are struggling with heroin addiction. Last year there were more than 45 deaths from opioid and heroin and a total of 267 overdoses. He says already this year eight people have died from an overdose. Leake says this epidemic is a strain on the entire community and there is a strong coalition in the region to fight the epidemic. To hear the interview with Captain Leake click here https://soundcloud.com/amanda-mangan/greg-leake-for-pht
