City and county leaders announced a new joint initiative Wednesday, which will focus on addressing increasing heroin usage and criminal incidents in the area, which they said have reached “epidemic” proportions.

The plan, which was announced by Madison Mayor Paul Soglin and Dane County Executive Joe Parisi in a joint press conference Wednesday, will be a collaboration between the city-county Public Health Department and the local nonprofit Safe Communities. The task force will highlight six areas of focus to reduce both access to and demand for opiates.

Poisoning deaths have surpassed vehicular crashes as the leading cause of death in Dane County, a statement from Parisi and Soglin said.

According to the statement, both Parisi and Soglin are prepared to invest $78,276 from city-county budgets into the initiative.

“We need to recognize that [substance abuse] may occur in anybody’s home, anybody’s workplace – it may start not with illegal drugs, but with legal prescription medication,” Soglin said at the press conference. “We are going to get control, and we are going to have a profound impact in making a safer community for everyone.”

Key elements of the plan include reducing access to illegal and prescription drugs, providing drop boxes for drug disposal, combating inappropriate prescription use by monitoring prescription drugs and improving poisoning intervention by training first responders, he said.

Soglin said confronting the rising demand for opiates in the area is an equally important task.

From Oct. 12: Changes in policy position to address heroin epidemic

The plan to decrease opiate use promotes early intervention, drug treatment and recovery through screening assessments. It also emphasizes family interventions, community drug treatments and medication-assisted withdrawal treatment.

While the number of overdoses and drug abuse has increased, so has the amount of enforcement and demand for treatment, Madison Police Department Chief Noble Wray and Amy Mosher Garvey, a psychotherapist at Women and Families Psychological Services, said.

“There is human despair taking place,” Wray said. “When people who are addicted are feeling as though they need to talk to someone and the fact that they feel very comfortable talking to an officer about their addiction is an indication that we are at an epidemic.”

Those who seek treatment can find it difficult to receive the care they need, Garvey said.

For outpatient treatment, the waiting list could be anywhere from three weeks to six months. Patients who are able to navigate the system may receive treatment within 24 to 72 hours, she said.

“The problem is not knowing how to navigate the system – there are so many providers, the system is so packed with treatment funding through the HMO system that you can’t just access the first slot, you have to stay within your funding stream,” Garvey said.

Cheryl Wittke, Safe Communities executive director, said work groups would address each issue in the plan for the next several months. Members will then meet for a summit in January with recommendations and begin to move forward with suggestions. In April, the group will evaluate and determine the next steps to take, she said.

Parisi emphasized those who are addicted, fear they are addicted or have a loved one with an addiction should call the Journey Mental Health Center at 280-2720 to get help.