Training Session Marks Launch of Drug Task Force

From the Endeavor News.

COUDERSPORT – A training session held last week in Coudersport marked the launch of the Potter County Drug Enforcement Task Force. Representatives from the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office provided the training.

District Attorney Andy Watson is working with a core group of local law enforcement officers and state troopers to develop the task force. State funds will cover expenses. Work of the task force will complement ongoing drug investigations.

Officials are especially concerned about the drug abuse problem among the county’s youth and young adults. Studies show that there is a growing epidemic of prescription drug trafficking, as well as abuse of other controlled substances.

Recent court cases have revealed that heroin, cocaine and other drugs not normally associated with rural communities have infiltrated Potter County’s drug culture.

Law enforcement is just one aspect of the county’s response. Potter County Human Services (PCHS) has been working with local school districts in support of programs geared toward early intervention to help students who demonstrate signs of drug abuse.

District Attorney Watson, in conjunction with the Attorney General’s Office, is planning to visit each of Potter County’s schools in September to address these issues.

Additionally, PCHS is working with other county agencies and Dickinson Mental Health Center on programs to help prepare Potter County Jail inmates who have been diagnosed as addicts to adjust for re-entry into society.

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