Officials in St. Mary’s County have set aside $100,000 for new and different strategies targeting special populations to combat drug abuse. As reported on Southern Maryland Newspapers Online:

 “As a community of neighbors and families, we have not yet gotten a good handle on the issue of substance abuse prevention and control,” Dr. Meena Brewster, St. Mary’s County health officer, wrote to the county commissioners. “The recent attention to local trends regarding abuse of prescription opioid drugs and heroin certainly has brought the broader issue of substance abuse to the forefront of our minds.”

Drug addiction prevention and treatment is already an ongoing process in St. Mary’s County and elsewhere, but this $100,000 is for “something new [and] different, not just to be new and different, but since you are continuing the current funding level of the ongoing activities, this $100,000 was to be used for new and different strategies, activities, etc., something where the expenditure would make a difference, could be expected to produce a different outcome than we have been getting to date,” wrote Elaine Kramer, chief financial officer for county government.

The $100,000 will be allocated across different programs including the sheriff’s office to assist female inmates, the county health department for medical supplies including Naloxone, the Department of Aging and Human Services for education and school or community based training, and local care providers for screening and referrals to treatment.  For more information read the full article on Southern Maryland Newspapers Online.