Philly Leader

Chester County Pennsylvanians will have access to a new program to help them manage their drug abuse.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that “100,306 drug overdose deaths” occurred in the United States by April of last year.

“We lose 14 Pennsylvanians a day to the opioid epidemic,” Attorney General Josh Shapiro said in a release. “Connecting individuals to the treatment they need will save lives, make our communities stronger, and help minimize the stigma associated with substance use disorder. I commend District Attorney Deb Ryan and our law enforcement partners across Chester County for implementing this program in their communities.”

The Law Enforcement Treatment Initiative (LETI) was Shapiro’s idea. Chester County is one of fourteen counties to join this initiative.

Pennsylvania's LETI allows Pennsylvanians seeking addiction treatment to use their local law enforcement, including sheriffs, police officers, probation officers and parole officers as a resource to contact participating treatment partners without the threat of arrest.

Shapiro said partnering Chester County law enforcement agencies under PA LETI will: open their doors to those suffering from addiction, help identify treatment for those who seek it, assist with ensuring that people have transportation to the facilities, maintain relationships with local treatment providers to understand the availability and collect data to study outcomes.

In Chester County, individuals can contact a member of law enforcement at any time to ask for a referral or to be connected to treatment with no threat of arrest or prosecution. This policy also includes the ability for law enforcement to connect individuals to treatment at their discretion.