HUMBOLDT – As attendees of an “opioid crisis” town hall meeting called for response to criminal behavior and nuisances stemming from addiction, Senator Mike McGuire announced the imminent development of a $4.8 million local treatment center.
Held at the Sequoia Conference Center in Eureka on November 14, the well-attended community forum focused on what McGuire described as “the worst drug crisis in American history.”
Saying that “we’re ready to advance solutions,” McGuire announced that a “results-driven new opioid addiction health center” will be opening in Humboldt County.
The announcement was met with applause but much of the audience commentary was on the social impacts of addition-driven behavior. Members of discussion panels repeatedly discouraged judgmental attitudes about opioid abuse, however.
Marlies Perez of the California Department of Health Care Services emphasized that “addiction is not a moral failing, it is a brain disease” and “we cannot arrest our way out of this problem.”
Perez said terms like “an individual with a substance abuse disorder” are replacing the term “addict” to reduce stigmatization.
Click here to read the full article, written by Daniel Mintz: Mad River Union New Divided views on opioids
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