It would appear that mayors are well-positioned to help create safer communities, reimagined in the current moment. Not surprisingly, however, this is no easy task, and mayors across the country are struggling to reform systems that have defied real change for decades. Join us as we discuss with Mayors
Kathy Sheehan what efforts are underfoot in their cities to affect the kind of change needed in this moment, what roadblocks they have faced as well as how they have addressed these (or hope to), what their efforts have yielded in terms of results, and what comes next. This will be an exciting way to end a year’s worth of stimulating and insightful, if difficult discussions. Please join us!
Opioid use, fentanyl deaths in Maryland spike amid pandemic
CALLAN TANSILL-SUDDATH of Capital News Service
April 27, 2021
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Preliminary data from 2020 reveals a dramatic increase in deaths linked with opioids in Maryland, particularly fentanyl; health officials blame the pandemic.
The number of unintentional intoxication overdoses those involving all drugs and alcohol rose 18.7% to 2,773 in 2020 from 2,379 in 2019, according to data collected by the Maryland Department of Health.
In more than 90% of cases, opioids were detected in bodies postmortem, the highest rate recorded in the state’s history of collecting this data.
While too early to formally determine the extent to which COVID-19 has influenced this increase, experts agree the pandemic is likely to blame for the widespread increase in drug use.
House OKs plan to overhaul state s approach to drugs
GENE JOHNSON, Associated Press
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SEATTLE (AP) The state House of Representatives on Saturday approved an overhaul of Washington’s approach to drug possession, after the Washington Supreme Court struck down its previous law as unconstitutional a ruling that left no prohibition on having small amounts of drugs, even for kids.
Many majority Democrats in Olympia saw the dramatic consequences of the ruling as an opportunity to address some of the harm the war on drugs caused, especially to communities of color. They sought to use it to expand access to addiction treatment and to put the state on a path to drug decriminalization.
When parents go to jail, children are the hidden victims
About 14% of children in Dallas County have parents who are incarcerated.
Denise Ewing sits with her grandson Sincere Ewing, 14. Through the program Keeping Families Connected, Sincere is able to visit with his father, who is incarcerated. Latitia Scott, founder of Keeping Families Connected, has been driving Sincere to Huntsville to visit his dad periodically for the last few years. The organization provides children rides to visit their parents in prison, up to four hours away. Scott and her volunteers rent luxury cars for the day, buy the children breakfast and lunch along the way, and provide money for the children to get vending machine snacks during the prison visits. Scott said Denise Ewing makes sure Sincere participates in the mentoring and counseling programs the Dallas nonprofit offers, as well.(Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer)
WA Legislature OKs plan to overhaul state s approach to drugs
GENE JOHNSON and RACHEL LA CORTE
Associated Press
OLYMPIA (AP) The Washington Legislature on Saturday approved an overhaul of the state s approach to drug possession after the Washington Supreme Court struck down its previous law as unconstitutional a ruling that left no prohibition on having small amounts of drugs, even for kids.
The Democratic-led Senate voted on a mostly party line 26-23 vote and concurred with changes made in the House, sending the measure to the desk of Gov. Jay Inslee.
Senate Republicans decried the changes made in the House, which reclassify possession of controlled substances, including cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine, from the gross misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail that previously passed the Senate down to a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail. The previous law, before being struck down by the court, had made it a felony.