Wisconsin Governor Creates Opioid Task Force

To address Wisconsin’s growing opioid abuse issues, Governor Scott Walker recently announced the creation of a special task force to deal with the crisis. 

The task force will be led by Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch and Rep. John Nygren. According to addiction news website The Fix, “Nygren, who introduced legislation to fight heroin and opiate abuse known as the HOPE Agenda (Heroin Opiate Prevention and Education), is particularly tied to the cause after watching his daughter battle heroin addiction” (Ackerman, 2016).

The task force will be suggesting ways in which the state can fight opioid abuse, which was responsible for “622 of the 843 drug overdose deaths throughout Wisconsin in 2014” (Ackerman, 2016).  

Gov. Walker signed the executive order that set up the task force in front of a Walgreens drug store in Milwaukee. Walgreens recently expanded access to naloxone, the overdose reversal drug, and set up drug take-back boxes at eighteen of its locations in Wisconsin. “The more drugs we get out of people’s homes and into places like this, the safer we’ll all be. Even if you’re coming in for a soda and a bag of chips, it’s easy to drop it off,” stated Gov. Walker.  

Ackerman, M. (2016). Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker announces opioid abuse task force. Retrieved from https://www.thefix.com/wisconsin-gov-scott-walker-announces-opioid-abuse-task-force