Opioid/Heroin Epidemic

In March of 2017, Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced the kick-off of “Connect 2 Disconnect,” an initiative in the District Attorney’s Office designed to provide parents with important information they can use to steer their children away from prescription drugs and, ultimately, heroin and other dangerous narcotics.

“Connect 2 Disconnect” is designed to educate parents about how they can connect with their kids to break the connection between prescription drugs and heroin. The campaign will feature posters and other written materials that will be distributed around the county. In addition, the campaign includes a powerful public service announcement intended to drive home the severity of prescription opiate abuse and its link to later addiction to heroin and other opiates, which is available to watch below.

It’s no secret that we are in the grip of an opiate epidemic countywide, region-wide, and nationwide. The Orange County District Attorney’s Office will continue its vigorous law enforcement efforts to take down drug dealers, both large-scale and street-level. But law enforcement is only part of the equation. We must educate our citizens about the dangers of abusing prescription opiates, a practice that is the most common pathway to heroin abuse and addiction. The “Connect 2 Disconnect” campaign is the next step in an overall strategy to attack the opiate epidemic, an approach that we hope will save families, lives, and communities.

Citizens may anonymously report illegal narcotics activity, or any crime, to the District Attorney’s Crime Tip Line, (845) 291-2106.