Opioid Task Force Issues Recommendations
Next step is to implement the city-county task force’s findings, says Ald. Murphy.
![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. Photo by Tom Varco (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.
Recommendations from the City-County Heroin, Opioid, and Cocaine Task Force are supposed to complement statewide efforts to curb the drug crisis and have taken public comments from stakeholders into account.
Final recommendations include developing safe needle exchange programs and offering rapid drug testing kits — to make sure drugs aren’t tainted — as ways to reduce opioid-related deaths. The group is also suggesting incentivizing property owners who rent to patients in recovery because it’s often harder for them to find adequate housing.
The group also encouraged a public health education campaign, emphasizing the risks of cocaine and fentanyl and making the message clear that people with substance abuse problems shouldn’t use drugs alone.
If implemented, the recommendations also call for a focus on prevention efforts for grades six through 12.
Alderman Michael Murphy is on the task force and said the recommendations, which also include making Naloxone — a medication that can treat narcotic overdoses in an emergency situation — more readily available in public spaces and working with the criminal justice system to expand treatment in prison are supposed to complement work at the state level.
The next step is to implement the recommendations, said Murphy.
Patricia Lovejoy, who’s son is in recovery, attends regular community meetings led by Nar-Anon Family Groups, a support group for family members who have loved ones struggling with addiction. She attended all the community meetings hosted by the task force and said she’s cautiously optimistic after the process.
“I really believe that they are listening and now we will see whether those actions speak louder than words,” Lovejoy said.
Robert Miranda, an area activist who has been working on heroin and opioid issues for more than a year, said he feels the suggestions produced by the task force are the first steps in changing policy and reducing the effects of the opioid crisis.
“I think the task force and the community engagement efforts that they initiated really should be looked at as a national model for other cities to look at,” he said.
Officials said some of these recommendations could be funded by tapping into federal grants and asking help from the private sector.
Overdose deaths in the county have been steadily rising since 2013, according to the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner‘s Office. Last year, that number was 401. Current projections suggest there could be a reprieve for the county this year, with a small dip in overdose deaths.
A total 388 people are estimated to overdose by the end of the year.
Listen to the WPR report here.
Milwaukee Leaders Release Recommendations To Curb Drug Overdoses was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
More about the Opioid Crisis
- A Medication Rescue for Opioid Overdoses - Corri Hess - Feb 22nd, 2021
- State Receives $10 million in Opioid Crisis Settlement - Jenny Peek - Feb 5th, 2021
- AG Kaul, Gov Evers Announce $573 Million Multistate Agreement with McKinsey & Company for “Turbocharging” the Opioid Epidemic with Purdue Pharma - Josh Kaul - Feb 4th, 2021
- Gov. Evers, DHS Announce Nearly $9 Million Awarded for Drug Treatment Services - Gov. Tony Evers - Jan 14th, 2021
- AG Kaul, Bipartisan AGs Push FDA to Examine Progress in Opioid Fight - Josh Kaul - Jan 11th, 2021
- Milwaukee County Surpasses Last Year’s Record Overdose Deaths - Edgar Mendez - Nov 27th, 2020
- Overdose Responders Struggle Against Rising Deaths - Edgar Mendez - Nov 20th, 2020
- Wisconsin Drug Take Back Collection 1st in the Country; Collects Nearly 90,000 lbs. of Unwanted Medications to Fight the Opioid Epidemic - Josh Kaul - Nov 9th, 2020
- Gov. Evers, DSPS Secretary-designee Crim Announce Wisconsin Enhanced Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Awarded Nearly $2 Million Grant - Gov. Tony Evers - Nov 2nd, 2020
- AG Kaul Announces Updated Settlement with Opioid Manufacturer Mallinckrodt - Josh Kaul - Oct 13th, 2020
Read more about Opioid Crisis here