Officials in Maryland organized a symposium for the various state jurisdictions to discuss the different ways they are trying to combat drug abuse and crimes related to it. Many feel that arresting and incarcerating offenders is not, by itself, enough to handle the growing problem of addiction and the crimes that surround it.
Prescription pill and heroin addiction are growing problems across many of the counties, such that some have taken steps to equip their officers with and train them in the use of of medicines like Naloxone to reverse overdose effects.
But even these measures are not seen as enough to fully make gains in the war against drugs. For additional measures, they are looking at employing technology to help them put together a more accurate picture of the true extent of the problem. While data on fatal overdoses is readily available, information on non-fatal ones is not collected and tracked quite so well. In some cases when such data is available, local officials are able to make arrests that brings the subjects into drug court where tools and programs to help them with their addictions can be brought to bear.
In the face of what is being called an epidemic of heroin addiction, legislators hope that this discussion will lead to ideas for more effective legislation in the next session of the General Assembly.
Source: Cecildaily
http://www.cecildaily.com/news/local_news/article_a5caa3a7-83fb-516a-ae1d-5d4defb54a5c.html