To that end, the report that follows features recommended policies and programs that are designed to help local leaders address the opioid epidemic. Families are shattered without regard to income, race, ethnicity, gender, educational attainment or family structure.Īs city and county leaders entrusted with preserving the health, safety, and vitality of our communities, it is our duty to act with urgency to break the cycles of addiction, overdose, and death that have taken hold in so many corners of this nation. We confront the tragedies of this epidemic in rural counties and in urban cities, and no portion of society is immune from the devastation. Although news outlets often provide little more than a running tally of the epidemic, leaders at the local level experience the human costs of this public health crisis one life at a time. In August, 2016 alone – as this joint task force convened by the National Association of Counties and the National League of Cities carried on its work – news reports informed us of 174 overdoses in six days in an Ohio city 8 overdoses in 70 minutes in a Pennsylvania county and 26 overdoses in 3.5 hours in a West Virginia city. The epidemic of overdoses and deaths from the abuse of prescription painkillers and heroin has devastated countless families and communities across the country.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |