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Governor Hogan Establishes Heroin And Opioid Task Force & Coordinating Council
Kirstin Garriss--02/24/2015 11:45 PM--02/25/2015 12:12 AM
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ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Governor Larry Hogan officially declared war on drugs. It's a fight that's personal for him.

"I lost a first cousin to a heroin overdose just a couple of years ago," said Governor Hogan. "So I know the kind of devastation it can cause families and communities."

On Tuesday afternoon, the governor signed two executive orders to combat the state's growing heroin and opioid crisis.

"We are going to attack this problem from every direction using everything we've got," said Governor Hogan.

The first executive order creates a Heroin and Opioid Emergency task force. The group is made up the Lt. Governor, appointees from the Senate, House and Attorney General's office plus law enforcement professionals, substance abuse experts and elected officials including former prosecutor and Washington County Delegate Brett Wilson.

"The goal is to get out to the different communities, the different regions across the state to find out what they're doing, what's going wrong, what's going well," said Delegate Wilson representing Washington County. "And then try to determine what the best approach is going forward."

Other members of the Heroin and Opioid Emergency Task Force include:

- Frederick County Circuit Court Judge Julie S. Solt
- St. Mary's County Sheriff Timothy Cameron
- Tracey Myers-Preston, Maryland Addiction Directors Council
- Dr. Bankole Johnson, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Psychiatry Department chair
- Michael B. Finegan, Peninsula Mental Health Services
- Dr. Marc Fishman, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
- Elizabeth Embry, Attorney General's Office, Chief of the Criminal Division

The task force will meet regularly and must present a final plan of action by December 1.

"Let’s be very clear, addiction is a disease. And will not be able to just arrest our way out of this crisis," said Governor Hogan.

His second executive order forms an Inter-agency Coordinating Council that combines several state agencies who will share research and data with the purpose of supporting public health and the response to the heroin and opioid crisis. This council will also offer recommendations for policy, regulations and legislation.

The council will include the following state agencies:
- Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
- Maryland State Police
- Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services
- Department of Juvenile Services
- Institute for Emergency Medical Services System
- State Department of Education
- Governor's Office of Crime, Control and Prevention

Lt. Governor Boyd Rutherford will lead both initiatives.

"We are now faced with a situation where deaths from heroin overdoses are outpacing the murder rate," said Lt. Governor Rutherford.

On the campaign trail, Governor Hogan pledged, that once he was in officer, he would declare Maryland a "state of emergency" against heroin. His administration says it's still an emergency, even though state law won't let them.

"It doesn't really fit for a legal stand point plus states of emergency are temporary."

The state also received a donation of five thousand units of Evzio. It's the only FDA approved Naloxoen auto injector that reverses the effects of heroin overdoses. It's very similar to an epi-pen.

According to the Governor’s office, in 2013, there were 464 heroin-related overdose deaths, which outnumbered 387 homicides, representing a 95 percent increase in heroin-related overdose deaths since 2010.

The Governor's Office of Crime, Control and Prevention will also $500,000 to award federal grants to expand reentry programs at correctional facilities. This program was modeled after the nationally recognized effort at the Washington County Detention Center that combines FDA-approved non-addictive medications and extensive behavioral health counseling following release.






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