RRCSB

2. Culpeper’s heroin plague persists, but hope is on the horizon

Abuse of heroin and other pain-numbing opioids continued to plague the area – and country – in 2019, with Culpeper County remaining in the upper tier statewide for associated overdoses and deaths.

But even amid the hopelessness and suffering that come with drug addiction, hope is emerging as community groups collaborate on solutions.

At its first meeting of 2019, the Culpeper County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a permit to open the area’s first long-term drug treatment center. Mountain View Community Church is leading the push for the facility, called Christ-Centered Addiction Restoration Services, or CARS, on a 39-acre horse farm off U.S. 15 south of town.

The church, which holds weekly RESTORE support groups, is working to raise $900,000 to open the place while CRUSH – Community Resources United to Stop Heroin – remains active in that mission. A collaboration of various community agencies, CRUSH held various events in 2019 including an Opioid Epidemic Town Hall in January at which Warrenton Town Councilman Sean Polster dubbed our region “the epicenter” of the deadly problem.