Police in the two largest counties outside the nation's capital said the opioid epidemic is getting worse.
Police chiefs from Fairfax County, Virginia, and Montgomery County, Maryland, told WTOP they are responding to more drug overdoses.
The radio station reported the police departments are treating the opioid scourge more as a social issue than a criminal justice one. For instance, Montgomery County police Chief Tom Manger said social workers respond with police officers to overdoses to help users to get into treatment.
Fairfax County police Chief Edwin C. Roessler said the department is also partnering with other agencies to combat the crisis. But he said the problem is getting worse.
He said the region's heroin supply is being infiltrated by fentanyl, a drug that's 10 times more potent.
