"65,000 Americans died from Opiate use this past year" stated Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo.
Our club was honored to host Chief del Pozo on Friday, June 16th. The Chief took time out of a very busy day to discuss the current Opiate Crisis here in Vermont and across the country. He added that we as a country must go back to Word War II to find that type of annual American death toll from one source.
The Chief went on to describe an extremely difficult scenario of excessive pain killer overprescriptions, the grip of mind-altering drugs that make physical changes to the brain, and a legal system not yet prepared to address all the complicated issues of the crisis. "This is not a political issues...it's a crisis" stressed the chief.
Chief del Pozo has been working very hard to draw attention to the crisis. He recently spoke with both VT Digger (click here for podcast) and Seven Days to describe issues in detail. And he's been a long time user of social media to focus on the problem.
For those interested in learning more about the Opiate Crisis, the Chief recommends the book Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic. One can also learn a great deal from HBO's Warning: This Drug May Kill You.
To learn more about Chief del Pozo, please click here. Thank you, Chief del Pozo, for visiting us.
