(Photo: Wisconsin DOJ)
Governor Scott Walker is creating a statewide task force to address Wisconsin’s ongoing epidemic of opioid abuse.
The taskforce will include the heads of several state agencies, public health organizations and lawmakers. State Representative John Nygren (R-Marinette), who will co-chair of the effort, says it’s an opportunity to assess efforts going on statewide and to identify what is working. “We’ve got a lot of efforts that are going on around our state, often times independently of each other, not knowing what the other is doing…so we’re going to learn about all these efforts and coordinate as much as possible.”
The Marinette Republican, who has led the charge on over a dozen changes in state law that target opiate abuse and access to the prescription drugs, says identifying policies from across the state that are working is an important step in dealing with the problem. “There’s a lot that’s been accomplished, and a lot more to be done,” he says.