Huntington Police Chief Joe Ciccarelli speaks during a joint press conference on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016, to address the surge in overdoses that occurred Monday.
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — A slew of reported overdoses due to a stronger-than-normal batch of heroin was a moment officials with the Huntington Mayor’s Office of Drug Control Policy and local emergency crews had been prepared for.
On Monday it struck, with more than two dozen drug overdoses occurring within a matter of hours.
Jim Johnson, director of the Office of Drug Control Policy, said it was similar to what has happened in cities like Philadelphia, where authorities have seen people “drop like flies,” and it was only a matter of time before it hit Huntington.
But the difference, as Johnson pointed out, was that there were no deaths following Monday’s reported overdoses, and at the time of a news conference Tuesday afternoon about the previous day’s events, all but one overdose victim was out of the hospital.
“If we are proud of anything, it is that we didn’t lose one life…
