Multiple-agency group shows lawmakers how dangerous drug fight is in LA

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Multiple agencies came together to show lawmakers how dangerous the fight against drugs has become in Los Angeles.

Members of L.A. Impact, an interagency organization comprising law enforcement departments from across the region, said the fight isn't getting any easier. During a show-and-tell session in downtown Los Angeles, the group allowed lawmakers to handle the tools of the trade used by drug dealers.

"It's a constant battle, but you have to keep doing it. It's difficult, we see how it can ravage a community, which is why we have to keep doing it," said Debra Owen, assistant district attorney of Imperial County.

Like everywhere else in the country, the big concern is the growing use of heroin. The fight against the drug may get worse before it gets better. Authorities said heroin is now being laced with Fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opiate.

"It's killing people at an alarming rate. Back in the northeast we started seeing it, and it's spread now down through Ohio and out toward the West Coast," L.A. Sheriff Jim McDonnell said. "We haven't seen the effects here that they've seen out there as of yet, but it's coming this way."

It is a grim prospect, one L.A. Impact is hoping will convince lawmakers of the need for tougher drug laws and more funding for the fight.