Mass. police chiefs want feds to help stem flow of opioids
By: Lisa Kashinsky, Boston Herald
MERRIMACK VALLEY, Mass. — Merrimack Valley police chiefs say choking off the fentanyl supply in their communities will require federal action as the deadly opiate continues to pour onto their streets from other countries.
“We can’t stop it on the local level. All we can do is street-level enforcement and prevention and education in schools,” Lawrence police Chief Roy Vasque said. “You’re not going to stop it unless it’s really a nationwide, comprehensive plan.”
Vasque’s comments come days after a 1-year-old Lawrence girl was hospitalized for fentanyl exposure and her parents charged with trafficking the drug. It was the second time a Merrimack Valley child has been exposed to the lethal narcotic in as many months; 11-year-old Precious Wallaces of Haverhill died in December after police said she ingested the drug.
