We know that homelessness and crime and addiction have left no family or community untouched and like many, I am frustrated. However, while addressing these issues we cannot repeat our mistakes of the past. We are making great improvements to our facilities and providing the community-based access to good treatment programs. It took time for things to get bad and will also take time for them to be noticeably better. I am confident that as we continue to learn more about substance abuse disorder we will continue to implement legislation and fund programs that will help us get to the other side of this crisis. What we did this session includes:
- HB 1956- creates a statewide drug overdose prevention and awareness campaign in K-12 schools.
- HB 2112- Requires higher learning institutions to provide fentanyl test strips, naloxone, and education, prevention, and awareness programs.
- $4.371 million in the Operating Budget for school-based prevention and intervention.