Statewide Opioid Task Force gathers in Augusta to declare war on fentanyl

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr and other members of the Statewide Opioid Task Force gathered at Augusta University on Wednesday to declare war on fentanyl.

Last fall, about 15 lbs. of fentanyl were seized in a single operation in Augusta, which is enough to kill 3.5million people. It’s being called a weapon of mass destruction, and the task force has come up with ways to combat it.

“When I see this room I see hope,” said AG Carr.

State and local leaders, law enforcement officials, AU academic leaders and other specialists presented their findings, and stressed that communication needs to be had between social sectors to end the opioid crisis.

“We know that the opioid epidemic knows no geographic, demographic, or economic boundaries. So we’ve got to get all over the state getting folks talking about the issue,” AG Carr said.

Department of Public Health statistics show from 2019 to 2022, fentanyl-involved overdose deaths in Georgia increased by 308%.

One approach to the problem is Augusta University chemists inventing a drug-detecting car.

“We have manufactured instruments that will be able to not only look for the fentanyl itself, but cooks, where it came from, all in the headspace or in the air above it,” said Dr. Guido Verbeck, Chemistry Chair and professor at AU.

Local organizations geared toward helping people recover were at the meeting. One of them was Hope House, a treatment center for women.

“In the last year, Hope House has helped two-hundred-twenty-five women with recovery and treatment services,” said Marlo Vernon, the Board Chair for Hope House.

To increase services like this, the state is getting big money in settlements with opioid-involved companies to expand treatment, recovery and prevention services in the state.

“We feel that Georgia is in the position to get nearly a billion dollars to our cities and counties through the state that will be deployed as grants and that type of thing, and it’s gonna make a difference. It really is,” AG Carr said.

Those funds will be received and distributed over time. Click here for more information on the settlements and the grant application process.

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