© 2024 WEMU
Serving Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County, MI
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Michigan Attorney General Treating Overdoses As Homicides

Bill Schuette
State of Michigan
/
michigan.gov

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuettesays his office is treating cases of fatal drug overdoses as murder investigations.

He says four attorneys have been assigned to help prosecute cases against opioid and heroin traffickers, including two instances where alleged suppliers are accused of second-degree murder

“We’re after the dealers.  We’re after the traffickers, and we’re after the over-prescribers, in terms of the bad docs who over-prescribe,” he said.  “We’re on their case, too.” 

Chief Assistant Attorney General Matthew Schneidersays the office is targeting suppliers of heroin and opioids in cases of fatal overdoses.

“In the old days, what would happen is, if somebody overdosed on drugs, it was a drug overdose,” said Schneider.  “Now, we’ve changed the rubric.  If there’s a drug overdose, you put up the caution tape.  That’s a homicide scene.  So, we treat those as homicides.” 

Michigan, like other states, has been trying to get a handle on an epidemic of opioid abuse.  The Centers for Disease Control says 2,000 people in Michigan died of an opioid or heroin overdose in 2015.  

Non-commercial, fact based reporting is made possible by your financial support.  Make your donation to WEMU todayto keep your community NPR station thriving.

Like 89.1 WEMU on Facebook and follow us on Twitter

— Rick Pluta is the Managing Editor and Reporter for the Michigan Public Radio network.  Contact WEMU News at734.487.3363 or email us at studio@wemu.org

Rick Pluta is the managing editor for the Michigan Public Radio Network.
Related Content