This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
U.S. Attorney for Utah John Huber updated the public on the state's efforts to lessen the effects of opioid and heroin abuse at a news conference Thursday.
Utah is ranked fourth in the nation for the number of opioid and heroin-related deaths, a statistic that Huber said should alarm residents.
At least 100 people in the state have died since Decemberdue to these types of overdoses.
Addictions can begin with someone gaining access to a family member or friend's unused pain pills, Huber said. As the addiction develops, they then cross over to opioid's "dirty cousin," heroin. This "certainly" results in broken homes, and often addicts turn to property crimes and violent crimes to fund the addiction, he said.
FBI special agent in charge Eric Barnhart said 90 percent of armed bank robberies in Utah are connected to heroin addiction.
"We can't go back in time and erase that addiction and all the tragedies that came from it," Huber said. "But today we can ask the community to prevent or curtail the next addiction that may lead to a dark and gloomy story."
He said the Drug Enforcement Administration's National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day on Saturday is an opportunity for people to turn in unused medication at various locations throughout the state and prevent future addictions. (Go to http://www.dea.gov to find a location near you, or call 800-882-9539.)
Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Keith Squires said that when his career began 30 years ago, those using heroin were "hardcore drug abusers." But now, Huber said, the people addicted to heroin are "brothers, daughters, grandchildren and neighbors."
"We cannot arrest or prosecute our way out of this heroin epidemic," Squires said. "We have to address this as a community."
State and federal government agencies have joined together to do what they can to combat the problem.
Officials on Thursday cited recent victories such as the conviction of St. George physician Simmon Lee Wilcox, who made 74,000 oxycodone pills available to drug traffickers, and a bust of local members of the street gang La Raza for drug trafficking.
But Barnhart said this is just the "tip of the iceberg," and that it will take an effort from the whole community to make significant progress.
The Wasatch Front has a high concentration of opioid-related deaths, according to data presented Thursday. But the greatest death rates in the state are in Carbon and Emery counties.
Huber said further study is needed to understand why deaths are occurring at such a high concentration in those areas.
He said future news conferences on the "opioid tsunami" in Utah will reveal more data and include representatives of the medical field. The next one is scheduled for September.