Countywide Blitz Works To Tackle Opioid Crisis

More than 70 events will take place across Bucks County’s 622 square miles as part of an effort to tackle addiction and the opioid crisis.

The Bucks County Blitz, which is in its second year, has grown from 10 events last year to 71 spread across the county this year. Doylestown-attorney Robert Whitley announced outside the Bucks County Justice Center on Thursday that the campaign will be bigger and more involved than last year.

Whitley said the idea behind the Blitz is to try to “saturate the community and get some forward momentum.”

In talking with lawmakers and law enforcement, Whitley said he learned battling the opioid crisis needs more than just arrests and legislation. Every aspect of the community needs to be involved.

“The Blitz is an all hands on deck effort,” he said. “It has to be a combined effort.”

The majority of the events taking place through April 28 in the county are free and open to the community. The Blitz will end with the Together We Can Convention at the Newtown Athletic Club. The event coincides with the countywide drug take-back day that collects unwanted and unused drugs.

The events will pull together the government, faith-based, nonprofit, and recovery communities throughout the Blitz, Whitley said.

Organizers said the Blitz will help connect the community with resources and discussions focused on how they can help fight the opioid crisis that killed more than 200 people in Bucks County last year.

“The public wants to get engaged. They know what is going on, and we have to find ways to get them engaged,” Falls Township-based State Rep. John Galloway said.

Weintraub said if everyone had the drive of Whitley, the opioid crisis would be handled by now.

Click here to see the Blitz events happening throughout the area