University of Iowa to host heroin summit

IOWA CITY - The University of Iowa will host a summit on issues related to heroin and prescription opioid abuse this week.

Heroin and Opioids: A Community Crisis will take place at the College of Public Health Building Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The summit will feature a collection of law enforcement, education and health care professionals, according to the UI. Attendees will be provided information on fighting opioid abuse and implementing prevention campaigns in their community.

Topics scheduled to be discussed include opioid-based deaths in Iowa, responding to opioid addiction and prevention education, according to the university.

Heroin has become an increasingly dangerous problem in Iowa in recent years. In Cedar Rapids alone, there were 44 heroin-related overdoses in the first five months of the year. Statewide, 37 of Iowa's 99 counties have submitted suspected heroin samples to the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Criminalistics Laboratory since 2005. Linn, Johnson and Scott counties lead the state in heroin samples submitted to the lab; in part due to their proximity to Chicago, a heroin distribution hub.

Experts have warned that some heroin makers are distributing heroin laced with fentanyl, a powerful synthetic painkiller, making it even more deadly.