Facing an onslaught of opioid addiction nationally and on the Eastern Shore, it is sometimes hard to recognize the progress being made to address it.
As Governor Hogan’s Heroin and Opioid Emergency Task Force studies ways to implement treatment, recovery and education, local addiction and treatment services have been ramping up their programs to better serve communities.
One example of this new focus is the $800,000 grant to restore A. F. Whitsitt Center’s bed capacity to 40, allowing for 240 more patients to receive treatment per year. Another is the training and use by law enforcement and emergency services of the medication Narcan (naloxone) used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. Another is the new Chesapeake Treatment Center in Easton, offering methadone and Suboxone programs for opioid addiction recovery.
The Spy recently met with John Winslow, Director of Dorchester County Addictions Program, Director of Dri-Dock Recovery and Wellness Center and consultant for Maryland’s Alcoholism and Drug Dependency program, to talk about the progress being made to coordinate efforts between health and treatment resources designed to spearhead a unified effort to stop the accelerating problem of opioid addiction. He also mentions the current move to change the dialogue about how we perceive addiction to end the stigma surrounding it.
John Winslow is emblematic of the Eastern Shore’s dedication and professionalism working to stem the tide of the deadly disease of addiction.
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