Update on Wisconsin Counties Association’s Opioid Task Force

Wednesday, March 1st, 2023 -- 2:01 PM

(Bob Hague, WRN) The Wisconsin Counties Association’s Opioid Task Force aims to help counties make the best use of their opioid settlement funds.

[The Wisconsin Counties Association’s Opioid Task Force aims to help counties make the best use of their opioid settlement funds. Winnebago County Executive Jon Doemel is the task force chair. He says providing NARCAN to overdose victims is critical.

“This is not about making drug use safe. I will say that again - this is not about making drug use safe. It's about keeping people alive long enough to get them to recovery. We cannot help them when they're dead.”

Doemel says that includes helping individual counties assess their needs. “Find out what your situation looks like in your county. Are people using it alone? Are they using it together? Are they using it at home? Are they using it at Kwik Trip? It seems to be different no matter where you are.”))

Doemel provided an update during the Counties Association Legislative Conference in Madison on Tuesday. There are resources including a needs assessment toolkit available at https://www.wisopioidabatement.com

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