As reported by the National Association of Counties (NACo), many counties are focusing on trying to reduce demand for heroin as they see deaths from drug’s abuse on the rise.

NACo’s article features the efforts of Cecil County to combat the county drug problem, which was ranked as the highest in Maryland.  As described,

County Executive Tari Moore admittedly didn’t know much about the drug [heroin] before, but became much more familiar when her county saw the highest drug use in the state at 27.5 per 100,000 people, narrowly edging Baltimore City. More people died because of heroin overdoses in Maryland in 2012 than by homicide.

Moore appointed the director of the county’s alcohol and drug recovery center to serve as her special assistant to develop a comprehensive plan to manage the county’s drug problem. That includes improving treatment options and access.

“We don’t have any detox facilities here,” she said. “Addicts are stuck waiting in jails for four to six weeks, and if someone is ready to change their life, you want to be able to take advantage of that immediately.”

She still plans to focus on trying to affect the supply, in addition to reducing demand.

“I think we have to do both, stop how much is available, it’s too easy to get,” she said.

For more information, see the full story from NACo.