Task force created to fight heroin doses in Chicago, Cook County

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Ald. Ed Burke and Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin announced the creation of the Chicago- Cook Task Force Against Heroin Friday an effort to cut the growing number of heroin overdoses in Chicago and Cook County.

The group will focus ways to fight the distribution of the drug, how to avoid overdoses and better treat heroin users.

Last year, heroin overdoses killed 633 people in Illinois and was linked to 224 deaths in Cook County in 2013.