Heroin abuse: Virginia task force important

The creation of the Governor’s Task Force on Prescription Drug and Heroin Abuse is another important step when it comes to addressing the deadly scourge of prescription drug abuse in Virginia.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe signed executive order 29 last month establishing the new task force, which is charged with recommending immediate steps to address the epidemic of prescription opiod and heroin abuse in the Commonwealth.

The governor’s order also asks the task force to suggest strategies that will raise public awareness about the dangers of misuse and abuse of prescription drugs, train health care providers on best practices for pain management, identify treatment options and alternatives to incarceration for people with addiction, and promote the safe storage and disposal of prescription drugs.

The ultimate objective of the task force is to seek a measurable reduction in deaths from prescription drug and heroin abuse. Unfortunately, we are seeing many of those overdose deaths right here in Southwest Virginia where prescription drug abuse has reached near epidemic levels in recent years.

“Prescription painkiller and heroin abuse is a nationwide problem, and is spreading rapidly across the Commonwealth,” McAuliffe said. “We must take immediate action in Virginia, or these terrible trends will continue to ravage our families, our businesses and our economy. As part of my plan, A Healthy Virginia, I am creating this statewide task force so we can identify and implement strategies that will prevent drug abuse and help people with addiction get the treatment they need to recover. I am confident that by working together to address this growing problem we will be able to make our communities safer, save lives, and put us on a pathway toward building a new Virginia economy.”

The McAuliffe administration is correct in taking these steps to fight the deadly epidemic of prescription painkiller and heroin abuse. To not act would be an unacceptable failure.

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., recently had an opportunity to witness first-hand the devastating impact of drug addiction while attending a drug court graduation in Salem and a drug recovery training session in Russell County. Kaine is correctly throwing his support on the federal level behind McAullife’s drug task force.

We too are pleased to see the formation of this statewide task force, and we encourage the task force members to hit the ground running in terms of addressing this deadly epidemic.

We must act now before more lives are lost.

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