The U-S Attorney from the Eastern District of Kentucky was in Detroit Wednesday taking part in a private meeting with federal law enforcers from five other states to discuss how to confront the growing abuse of heroin and prescription painkillers. Kerry B. Harvey says there are some unique challenges to fighting this new wave of the drug trade.
U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade is hosting the private summit Wednesday. She says drug dealers in southeastern Michigan appear to be taking their trade to other states, including Ohio, Tennessee, Kentucky, western Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Federal authorities from those states are attending the private summit. McQuade says the problem is a broad one, from doctors who prescribe drugs to people using drugs to others who illegally sell them.
She says she refused a powerful painkiller for a 14-year-old son who broke his ankle.
Pittsburgh U.S. Attorney David Hickton says there's a desperate need for "new ideas." He counts dozens of overdoses in recent weeks in his territory.