Members of Garrett County Groups Attend Summit

Garrett County’s prevention and treatment community was represented at the 2019 Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit held in Atlanta, Georgia in late April. Members of the Stand Together Garrett County Against Drug Abuse Consortium and the Drug-Free Communities Coalition attended the conference.

“It was an amazing opportunity for our volunteers and staff to be able to go to a conference of this magnitude,” said Sadie Liller, prevention coordinator at the Garrett County Health Department. “We learned so much and will be reporting about the summit to the respective groups. We plan to implement some of the things we learned at the summit on a local level.”

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump both spoke at the summit. “Everyone here today is united by the same vital goal: to liberate our fellow Americans from the grip of drug addiction and to end the opioid crisis once and for all,” President Trump told the group.

A record number of more than 3,500 of the nation’s top researchers, law enforcement officials, advocates and policymakers convened for the summit, which is the largest national collaboration of professionals from local, state, and federal agencies, business, academia, treatment providers, and allied communities impacted by prescription drug abuse and heroin use.

Maryland U.S. Representative David Trone was one of five members of Congress to address the attendees, sharing the latest information on federal policy and legislation, and expressing a united, bipartisan goal for more life-saving solutions to the opioid public health crisis. Trone’s nephew passed away from an opioid overdose in 2016 at the age of 24.

For more information about drug prevention initiatives in Garrett County call the health department at 301-334-7730 or 301-895-3111

Cutline:

Members of the Stand Together Garrett County Against Drug Abuse Consortium and the Drug-Free Communities Coalition attended the 2019 Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit held in Atlanta, Georgia recently. Pictured above, from left to right, with U.S. Congressman David Trone are Melissa Clark, Sadie Liller, Congressman Trone, Karen Hershfeld, and Kathy Beals. Not present for the photo, but attending the conference, were Garrett County State’s Attorney Lisa Thayer Welch and Teresa Friend.

By Diane Lee, Public Information Officer, Garrett County Health Department