Drug warning

The Chico Police Department is warning the community about drug use following the apparent fatal overdoses of two young residents, both 27 years old, at separate locations on the same day last week.

According to a CPD press release dated Wednesday (July 19), the unnamed victims were a woman who was found deceased in a home on East 20th Street and a man found “suffering a medical condition” at a home on Iroquois Avenue on July 13. The man, who later died, was a known heroin addict, the press release notes.

CPD says the deaths “highlight the need for great community awareness” of illicit drug use, as they are not isolated events. The department noted an increase in heroin and cocaine seizures between 2015-16 by the Butte Interagency Narcotics Task Force, though by how much wasn’t clear.