Imperial County’s fight against the opioid epidemic

Imperial County is joining other cities and counties in California to fight the pharmaceutical companies they claim lead to the opioid crisis.

The county announced they joined the lawsuit this week. One of the demands in the lawsuit is for the pharmaceutical companies to pay a special tax, that would help fund recovery programs.

” We don’t have any facilities for detox. To detox people because that’s really what is needed. Once they’re addicted, you need to put them in a program where they can detoxify. We don’t have it hear in this county we’re lacking that,” said Raymond Castillo, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors.

One official from the health services says the community will benefit from the county’s support in the fight against the drug crisis. Gabriela Jimenez, Imperial County Behavioral Health Services Deputy Director said, “that they’re uniting these forces, and that we can all work together and insure the recovery of a lot of these individuals. And some control control over this opioid epidemic.”

The Chairman said while the process could take years, it’s important to hold those responsible accountable for their actions. “But of we can recover something, or at least get the people responsible for the problem to pay for some of the cost. I think it’s the right thing to do.”