Fulton County continues battle against opioid addiction

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - Fulton County is working on new ways to fight the heroin epidemic.

Tuesday, a heroin task force revealed a progress report in the battle against heroin. But the news isn't good.

In the last six years, there have been 642 heroin or opioid-related deaths.

From 2010 to 2016, the number of opioid overdose deaths rose by 117 percent.

In just the last year, 109 people died from heroin and opioid deaths.

Another 425 were saved by the drug Narcan.

The task force said it's now working on plans to change those numbers.

One of the people in Tuesday's meeting is a former addict who now works with recovering addicts.

Fulton County commissioners passed a resolution allocating $49,000 to distribute Narcan to all the county's first responders.

A Heroin Helpline is also in the works and should be completed this spring.