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Taking a step against opioids

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette is trying to crack down on opioid crimes.

A new unit in Schuette’s office is prosecuting crimes involving heroin and other opioid-based drugs as the state confronts an overdose epidemic that claimed almost 2,000 lives in 2015.

The four-person Opioid Trafficking and Interdiction Unit is designed to help local authorities target the supply of prescription drugs from dealers and doctors who are overprescribing. It was quietly launched in the fall and has netted six convictions. Fifteen other people are facing charges.

“It crosses the entire spectrum of our society. It really spares no one,” Schuette said of opioid abuse during the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference, where he was flanked by Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton — his opponent in the 2010 election — and Schuette’s chief deputy Matthew Schneider.

Schneider said the attorney general’s office historically has partnered with county prosecutors on cold case investigations, murder probes and appellate cases.

“We are now reaching out on opioids, drug abuse cases. We’ve never done that before,” he said.

The unit cooperates with local, state and federal authorities and focuses on major cases that cross state or county lines and involve high volumes of heroin and other opioid-based drugs. It plans to use what Schneider said is an underutilized law that allows murder charges against people who deliver drugs that cause someone to die.

Opioid abuse has become a scourge upon our nation. And, it can affect anyone, including the middle aged and elderly who can get hooked on pain killers after surgery or serious illness.

We hope this effort becomes a valuable tool in taking a dent out of the opioid abuse in our state. Our unsuspecting residents need the help and expertise Schuette’s office can provide.

— Midland Daily News

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