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Reporter's Notebook: Making Police Buddies, Not Foes, of Heroin Addicts

DART officer Karl Schwemley and his charge, recovering addict Justin Sole (ideastream).

The opioid crisis continues to ravage communities in Northeast Ohio.  A new report found in Cuyahoga County, there's been a nearly 34 percent increase in the number of opioid-related deaths in the first four months of this year compared to the same period last year.  "Morning Edition" host Amy Eddings talks with ideastream health reporter Lecia Bushak about her reporting on harm reduction programs, from one in Portugal that started with the decriminalization of all drugs, including heroin and cocaine, to the Drug Abuse Response Team, or DART, program in northwestern Ohio's Lucas County that pairs up sheriff's deputies with addicts struggling to stay clean.

lecia.bushak@ideastream.org | 216-916-6062