Local psychologist weighs in on Obama’s Atlanta drug talk

Today at the National Prescription Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit in Atlanta President Obama highlighted the heroin and opioid addiction epidemic.

Nationwide, heroin and opioid abuse has killed close to 30,000 Americans since 2014. In Wicomico County, we’re told there have been 40 to 50 reported overdoses per month over the last three months. At the Summit, the president said the national numbers were “staggering”.

Earlier today we spoke to Doctor Michael Finegan, who sits on Governor Larry Hogan’s “Heroin and Opioid Task Force”, to get his thoughts on how this push could effect our area. “Putting a focus will expand treatment, particularly in rural areas of Maryland which are hard hit.” Said Finegan. “Effective treatments for opiate use disorder are coming down the pike, they’re being applied across Maryland,”

At the Summit, President Obama said a bipartisan effort in Washington is currently addressing the issue as congress is looking to allocate more resources to those in need.