On Monday, the White House released a brand new strategy to take on the heroin epidemic in a group of eastern states.

The new plan will focus heavily on treating addicts instead of past attempts that geared more towards punishing them and pointing them out as high-level suppliers for arrest, according to CBS.

The movement from the White House was ignited by the sharp rise in the use of heroin and opiate-based painkillers, which the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has defined as an epidemic.

According to data from the CDC, in the past 10 years, the use of heroin has more than doubled among people aged 18-25 in the United States. In that same time, the overdose death rate has quadrupled. They also found that almost 50 percent of heroin users in the U.S. were also addicted to prescription painkillers.

According to Jessica Cirillo, Clinical Supervisor and Relapse Prevention Specialist for the Mirmont Treatment Center in Lima, Delaware County, heroin addiction is growing, but treatments are available and they can be highly successful. She therefore is agreeing with the new policies that focus heavily on treatment and are shifting away from punishment.

“Allowing people the opportunity to be in a therapeutic environment where they can really address their diagnosis of addiction is gonna create way more optimal outcomes of success in regards to success and minimizing some of the criminal acts that happen as a result of addiction.”

She also agreed that with the growing heroin addiction, is the fact that more young people are also getting hooked on prescription painkillers, all of which turn out to be extremely expensive for the user.

“A lot of times if someone introduces them to heroin which is $10 a bag, they get instant gratification and relief from the discomfort, but then, of course, it creates another dependency on the substance of heroin which leads to a more fatal outcome and worse consequences and behaviors.”

Cirillo said that an initial, intense, treatment would be anywhere from 30-90 days and would have to be followed up closely with long-term care. She also highly recommended that all police and first responders should be educated about how to use medication that reverses heroin overdoses as part of the overall plan to save more lives.