MMA executive director named to national opioid task force

MMA Executive Director Geoff Beckwith has been named to a national task force on heroin and opioid abuse, continuing the MMA’s efforts to provide leadership on a crisis that is affecting communities of all sizes across the country.
 
The National League of Cities and the National Association of Counties announced the 24 members of the City-County National Task Force on the Opioid Epidemic on March 7 in Washington, D.C. The task force is composed of municipal and county leaders from across the country who will aim to enhance awareness, facilitate peer exchanges, and identify sound policy and partnership solutions.
 
Cities and towns recognize that the opioid and heroin abuse crisis has reached epidemic proportions. Drug overdose is now the leading cause of accidental death in the United States, with more than 47,000 lethal drug overdoses in 2014, according to the NLC (www.nlc.org). This epidemic is driven largely by overdose deaths related to prescription pain relievers (18,893) and deaths related to heroin (10,574).
 
Cities and towns “are at the forefront of the opioid and heroin crisis in America,” said NLC President Melodee Colbert-Kean, a councillor from Joplin, Mo. “This joint NLC-NACo task force will work with local community groups and public safety officials to combat heroin and opioid abuse, provide families with vital resources, and help make our communities safer.”
 
The task force will take the following actions:
 
• Conduct at least two national dialogues where city and county elected leaders will explore the comprehensive issues related to this crisis, growing trends and proven responses
 
• Develop educational opportunities for counties and municipalities through special forums, educational workshops, webinars and other opportunities
 
• Publish a national summary report of municipal-county collaboration, focusing on community prevention and overdose response, effective treatment options, public safety enforcement and supply reduction