March 29, 2024

“Like” Walden, Thank the Governor

Posted for Walden Behavioral Health

During Walden’s recent social media push, seeking an ever broader reach into Southern Maryland to combat growing addictions and needs in the community, the not-for profit behavioral health organization gave a shout-out to Governor Larry Hogan for creating a Heroin and Opioid Emergency Task Force.

“So grateful to Governor Hogan for creating this Task Force and especially happy that Sheriff Tim Cameron and Tracey Myers Preston are on it!”

The members of the Heroin and Opioid Emergency Task Force are:

– Frederick County Circuit Court Judge Julie S. Solt
– Delegate Brett Wilson, R-Washington County
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

“Let’s be very clear,”  the governor said when announcing the taskforce, “addiction is a disease and we will not be able to just arrest our way out of this crisis.”

On his own Facebook page, Governor Hogan posted:

Understanding Maryland’s Heroin Epidemic:

In 2013, there were 464 heroin-related deaths – greater than the number of homicides;

Between 2010 and 2013, cases of heroin-related overdose deaths increased by 95 percent;

Preliminary data for 2014 shows that heroin- related overdose deaths are on pace to surpass those in 2013 by approximately 20 percent.

Today, the Hogan-Rutherford administration took its first steps to combating the heroin crisis by announcing executive action to establish the Heroin and Opioid Emergency Task Force and the Inter-Agency Coordinating Council, two groups that will enable the state to address this epidemic in a holistic, comprehensive way.

 

To find out more about efforts to fight addictions in our community visit Walden on Facebook or “follow us” on Twitter.

 

 

 

If you haven’t already “liked” Walden on Facebook

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