The Centre County District Attorney’s Office and the Heroin Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative will hold the latest in a series of town hall meetings on the opioid epidemic on Tuesday (April 2).
The latest forum is set for 6:30 p.m. at the Penns Valley High School Auditorium, with doors open at 6 p.m. The meeting was rescheduled from February because of inclement weather.
“The heroin and opioid epidemic does not discriminate and impacts all of Centre County,” District Attorney Bernie Cantorna said in a news release. “It is important that Penns Valley and its surrounding communities know what resources are available so we can keep our loved ones and our community safe.”
The meetings will include a community presentation for attendees to learn about substance use disorders, as well as prevention, treatment and recovery, as well as a law enforcement perspective. Related resources will be available and time will be set aside for a question-and-answer session.
Pennsylvania has the fourth highest overdose rate in the country. Centre County had at least 18 overdose deaths in 2018 and more than 50 in the past three years.
The HOPE Initiative was formed in 2016 by the Centre County Criminal Justice Advisory Board to address substance abuse and drug overdoses in the county. Since then it has grown to include representatives from a number of community and government organizations.
HOPE and the DA’s office have held town hall meetings periodically since 2016, including two last year in Philipsburg and Bellefonte.
Cantorna said at last year’s meeting in Bellefonte that opioid addiction not only affects the individual, but their loved ones and the community, and that its ripple effects can last for generations.
‘We cannot fight this alone based on law enforcement,’ he said. ‘It has to be a multi-faceted approach.’
