Kudos for more work to end opiod epidemic

It took five months, but they finally got it done. Governor Scott Walker called a special session of the legislature back in January to tackle the problem of opiod addiction in the state. This week, Walker finally signed 11 bills into law, all designed to prevent and treat opiod abuse, a growing problem in Wisconsin. These new laws, coupled with similar legislative efforts in recent years, show Wisconsin is committed to trying to end the problem. The good news is that all of these bills have bipartisan support. Governor Walker is right when he says “this is an issue that has no boundaries and there should be no boundaries when it comes to fighting it.” Walker signed four of those bills into law during a stop in Onalaska on Monday. Those bills allow school officials to administer Narcan to prevent an ovedose, as well as the development of schools for recovering addicts. Other bills the Governor signed into law allow for the involuntary commit of drug addicts. These bills, part of the Heroin Opiod Prevention and Education effort, now total 30 in the past three years. It is good to see that Wisconsin is working to get to the root of the problem of drug addiction and not simply trying to arrest its way out of the problem. It is good to see lawmakers from both parties working together to get this done. And it is good to see Wisconsin be a national leader in the fight against opiod addiction. Unfortunately, despite all this effort, we are only now beginning to make a dent in this public health crisis.