Calling heroin and opioid addictions a public health AND criminal justice crisis in Kenosha County, Deputy District Attorney Mike Gravely (pictured) outlined a plan to add to programs already underway to specifically help those arrested for the first time for possession of those drugs. During an hour long presentation to the County Board Gravely said the heroin crisis has reached a level the likes of which he has never seen. Gravely also noted that in 2013, more than twice as many people died of opioid overdoses than died in traffic accidents.
Gravely noted the county currently has a program that uses the anti-addiction drug Vivitrol to help those with addiction and mental health problems. It’s a program he would like to expand to help those arrested for possession for the first time BEFORE any charges are filed. Gravely said County Executive Jim Kreuser has pledged that he will add the expansion of the program to his budget for 2017. Gravely also said Sheriff David Beth, Kenosha Police Chief Dan Miskinis and the police chiefs of Pleasant Prairie and Twin Lakes are also in support of expanding the Vivitrol program, which he said, shows that the problem of opioid abuse has spread county-wide.