Stronger Action Needed on Opioid Crisis
Walker turned down needed funds. More integrated, broad-ranging approach needed.
![Pills by Tom Varco (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.](https://urbanmilwaukee.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/1024px-Lexapro_pills.jpg)
Pills by Tom Varco (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.
We are facing a crisis here in Wisconsin. Deaths from opioid overdoses are increasing faster than the national average. Much of our state is rural, making mental health and substance abuse treatment significantly harder for those living far away from treatment centers. Mental health spending in Wisconsin ranks near the bottom nationally. Scott Walker turned down federal Medicaid dollars that would go towards treatment, putting his Republican presidential primary ambitions over the needs of those suffering opioid addictions.
As governor, my agenda will be to add more integrated mental health services that incorporate a wide range of treatment options for people suffering from behavioral health disorders. To treat patients effectively, providers must rely on many options to create the best treatment approach for each individual patient. There is not a single form of treatment that works for everyone. Facilities with multiple options allow collaboration to create a plan that works for each patient without needing to access treatment from multiple locations. This creates the consistency of care that patients and providers need.
I will accept all federal health care funds and will add additional spending for mental health treatment. On top of that, I will push for more funding for our UW System. The research and health care training they do is invaluable to us. Our state universities are training the next generation of healthcare and mental health providers.
We also need to improve access to physical treatment options and encourage greater investment in telemedicine. New communication technologies allow patients and social workers to speak with medical professionals remotely, allowing them access to specialists they would otherwise have to travel to see. This way patients can get the care they need without the often-impossible task of moving to a treatment center.
Finally, we must recognize that people suffering from addiction do not belong behind bars. It is a terrible waste of resources. Not only does it cost more to keep a person locked in jail than in a treatment center, it ignores the fundamental problem of addiction. As governor, I will push for more treatment options for non-violent drug offenders, as opposed to incarceration.
Improving mental health will require more than our politicians paying lip service to the issue. It requires the focus of lawmakers to provide real funding and real policy changes. It’s time to hold the governor accountable for the state of mental health care in Wisconsin. It’s time to move forward again.
Matt Flynn is a Milwaukee attorney and a Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate.
More about the Opioid Crisis
- Milwaukee’s Native Community Faces Surge in Opioid Deaths - Trisha Young - Jul 8th, 2024
- MKE County: County Awards $2.8 Million To Non-Profit Opioid Programs - Graham Kilmer - Jul 2nd, 2024
- MKE County: County To Get $3 Million From Kroger In Opioid Settlement - Graham Kilmer - Jul 1st, 2024
- Court Decision Holds Up Wisconsin’s $70 Million Drug Settlement - Sarah Lehr - Jul 1st, 2024
- MKE County: Opioid Settlement Will Fund 7 New, Expanded Abatement Efforts - Graham Kilmer - Jun 28th, 2024
- Legislators Agree on Opioid Plan, Still Withhold PFAS, Hospital Funds - Erik Gunn - May 8th, 2024
- Baldwin Announces Over $17.7 Million to Tackle Fentanyl and Opioid Crisis in Wisconsin - U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin - May 7th, 2024
- Baldwin Backed Legislation to Crack Down on Fentanyl Traffickers Heads to President’s Desk - U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin - Apr 24th, 2024
- Legislature Stalls Opioid Settlement Funds. Again - Erik Gunn - Apr 23rd, 2024
- Milwaukee Bucks Legend Marques Johnson Joins Forces with Serenity Inns to Combat Opioid Epidemic in Milwaukee - Serenity Inns - Apr 23rd, 2024
Read more about Opioid Crisis here
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Create a well regulated, safe and effictive medical cannabis program Wisconsin. Iowa, Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, 30 some other states and all of Canada have such programs and states that do have seen a 25% reduction in opioid related deaths. We had medical cannabis in my home state of Washington back in 1998!? I grew up with this, it’s not a panacea but it does help and no, the sky does not fall, in fact just the opposite. People get help, they get safe effective medicine with no risk of death and very little to no addiction, roads get paved, a lot less people OD and schools get funded. Why is Wisconsin so stuck in the draconian dark ages on this issue, all while alcoholism and the opioid crisis continue to ravage the state? Answer: Republicans don’t like the far safer, healthier alternative of cannabis. Why? Who knows anymore. Are they drunk? Strung out on pills? Beholden to big pharma? Beholden to the prison industry? The alcohol industry? Law enforcement? What? Why do they continue to lie, obfuscate, stall and block the will of the people in Wisconsin? Who knows? Thus, we must dump Walker, Vukmir and all other backwards, regressive republicans this November. They are blocking the will of the majority of Wisconsinite’s on this issue who want cannabis re-legalized, taxed and regulated!
https://drugabuse.com/legalizing-marijuana-decreases-fatal-opiate-overdoses/
Dump Walker!
Legalize cannabis!
Candidates promoting treatment for Substance Abuse
are missing the boat. Treatment is not Recovery. Most people will go to inpatient treatment programs a few times before they learn to stay drug free. The continuum of care is not an either /or model. It is a both /and model. Investing in treatment without investing in long term recovery supports is misguided. It further perpetuates needing more treatment. Treatment that costs so much that 80% of the people that need it, can’t afford it. So lets fill out the continuum of care and invest in low cost, community based supports. The center piece of which is recovery housing.
Vote Walker and the GOP clown out in November so we can finally legalize medical marijuana.