Many people are taught from an early age to say no to drugs. Unfortunately, due to varying circumstances, drug addiction is a very real problem for many people. In Maryland, one of the biggest challenges to citizens is heroin.
The use of heroin has increased steadily since prices dropped in 2010. The fact that prescription drugs are becoming more difficult to obtain has also been a factor in heroin’s growing popularity. In the last 30 days, 48% of Americans have used at least one prescription drug, and many experts are saying that those who become addicted to painkillers such as Oxycontin or Vicodin, unable to obtain the pharmaceuticals legally, turn to heroin as a cheaper, more readily available substitute.
Between 2011 and 2013, deaths from heroin overdose in Maryland increased from 247 to 464. Governor Larry Hogan has had enough, and is pushing for new programs to help law enforcement and medical professionals treat heroin addiction.
With the plan comes a $500,000 federal grant and a donation of 10,000 doses of the drug naloxone, which can reverse the effects of heroin and opiate overdose. The naloxone was donated by its manufacturer, Kaleo Pharmaceuticals. By donating the naloxone, Kaleo Pharmaceuticals has helped make it more accessible to emergency personnel. The company is also working toward getting it covered under Medicaid programs.
While the programs will not receive any new state money for treatment, Governor Hogan has set aside the $500,000 federal grant to expand programs in jails and prisons that will help prisoners convicted of drug charges rehabilitate into the outside world — in an attempt to help them stay clean once they are out.
While many people applaud the governor for his new initiatives, several activists are unhappy with budgetary cuts made to mental health programs, many of which involve substance abuse rehabilitation. The programs have lost $23 million in funding, and hundreds of people rallied in Annapolis on Wednesday to protest the cuts.
In spite of Governor Hogan’s criticism of former Governor Martin O’Malley’s failure to declare a state of emergency regarding heroin overdose, he, too, left the declaration out of his speech on Tuesday. When asked why this was so, Lieutenant Governor Boyd Rutherford explained that there was no legal precedent for such a declaration, though he assured the Baltimore Sun “We still consider it an emergency. It really doesn’t fit from a legal standpoint.”
Governor Hogan’s heroin task force (made up of substance abuse experts and elected officials) is expected to report to him and offer recommended courses of action by December 1st, 2016.