Baltimore Maryland – The governor of Maryland and the state legislature are considering all sorts of options in the ever-growing fight to stop the heroin and opiate drug addiction epidemic that has engulfed the state. Some of the options being kicked around include loosening the criminal penalties for drug offenses and allotting more funding for opiate treatment and suboxone rehab programs.
While the efforts have drawn praise from experts, some advocates want Maryland to increase funding and expand on long-term inpatient opiate treatment programs.
White House Take on Growing Opiate Addiction Epidemic?
These steps come as the Trump White House and Congress are committed to doing whatever is necessary to combat the country’s horrifying opiate epidemic. In March of 2016, the United States Senate overpoweringly approved legislation to create grants to expand opiate drug treatment and awareness programs.
Doctors are now encouraged to stop writing unnecessary prescriptions for opiates and to increase a patient’s access to drugs like Narcan, which reverse the effects of an opiate overdose.
In September of 2017, heroin related deaths in Maryland climbed to 527, which was three times higher than the same period of time in 2010, according to information from the state health department.
Unlike in the past, when heroin was mostly isolated to the inner city, it has now infiltrated the suburbs and it is cheaper and more powerful than it’s ever been. Deaths related to heroin increased to 33 in Montgomery County and 27 in Prince George’s County, which is two times the amount as what was reported in 2010.
In a disturbing poll done in October of 2016 by the Washington Post-University of Maryland, 3 in 10 Maryland residents know a friend or family member who is an opiate addict.
Other measures pending in the Maryland legislature include creating a database to track potential opiate abusers, which requires an alert to doctors and pharmacists and notifies the police and state licensure board. Enacting an opiate abuse database would strengthen the state’s ability to prosecute drug gangs under the statutes of organized crime.
Help Yourself or a Loved Who Desperately Needs Opiate Addiction Treatment
With everything an addict will go through to get their drug of choice, whether it is prescription opiates or heroin, it’s clear to see the desperation of opioid drug addiction will drive someone to the brink of insanity. When you are sick from opiates it can be impossible to believe you can ever be free from drugs again. If you are tired of allowing drugs to run your life and want to begin a better future, please contact an opiate addiction rehab in Baltimore Maryland right now!
Source: In Maryland, new efforts to fight drug addiction are taking shape