Three county executives joined together to combat one big problem: heroin and opioid abuse.
The Anne Arundel, Harford, and Howard County Executives organized the Tri-County Opioid Addiction Summit to encourage an exchange of ideas.
“There's no question that the number one threat from a public health and public safety standpoint is heroin and other opiates,” Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh said.
They invited law enforcement, health department officers, experts and treatment professionals to discuss what initiatives have been effective in preventing overdoses, curbing addiction and combating the epidemic.
“I think the whole point of this is to bring different people together who are experts who are dealing with this issue, come share ideas and let's see what works best,” Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman said.
While a number of new programs have been implemented statewide and in those individual counties, opioid-related deaths are still on the rise.
According to the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, there were 1,089 opioid-related deaths in Maryland in 2015. That's double the number from five years ago.
“Everything that we're all doing is not quite working,” Lt. Governor Boyd Rutherford said. “I mean I don't want to say it's a complete failure because we are saving people, we are getting people into treatment, we are getting people to be much more conscious of what's going on, but there's still a problem out there.”
Governor Hogan’s Heroin & Opioid Emergency Task Force made 33 recommendations that address all facets of the issue. Rutherford said the state is still working to implement the findings from their report.
“Our program, from the state level, we just really implemented our suggestions and recommendations the beginning of this year, so what happened in 2015 would not necessarily be addressed by what we’re trying to do. So, it's going to be a long-term effort and we're going to continue to fight it,” Lt. Governor Rutherford said.
During the event, each County Executive outlined their jurisdiction's efforts in addressing opioid abuse.
“Today's an opportunity for our public safety professionals to work more closely together, to establish relationships because these patterns of distribution cross borders. This is an opportunity for our health departments and social services organizations to meet one another and to coordinate their programs and to identify programs that are working,” Schuh said.
“There's clearly a network that distributes this drug throughout Maryland and so by working together, we're going to create a network of prevention,” Harford County Executive Barry Glassman said.
There were also panels that included discussions on public health partnerships, drug court programs and the neurobiology of addiction.
“The biggest change in the addictions treatment field from when I started 20 years ago, is it's much more holistic today,” said John Wanner, an opiate addiction expert. “I think the things being done are going to have an impact but it's going to take time and unfortunately we're going to see more people die from that.”
WBAL radio and television sports personality Keith Mills delivered the keynote address and detailed his personal battle with addiction.
Registered participants also had the opportunity to be trained to use Naloxone, a medication that counters the effects of an opioid overdose.
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