We have seen a lot in the news lately about the Opioid Epidemic and the attempts of various levels of government to address and stop it.\u00a0 I just read a book, Dreamland<\/u>, by Sam Quinones, that was absolutely terrifying.\u00a0 Written in 2015, the book traces the history of America\u2019s relationship with \u201cthe morphine molecule\u201d from the early 1900s to the present\u2014from avoidance of any use of opiates because of fear of addiction, to the (false) determination by physicians and pharma companies in the 1980s that the drugs had little risk of addiction.\u00a0 I highly recommend reading this book to get the big picture of how we got to this place in society, how society itself has changed, and what we need to do now.\u00a0 It is very readable, with many stories of how individuals of all levels of society became addicted and how heroin is now sold in our small cities and towns like pizza delivery.<\/p>\n
Recently the Maryland State Grange joined the RALI (Rx Abuse Leadership Initiative) coalition at the kickoff event for its anti-drug campaign in Maryland.\u00a0 Congratulations to State Master Allen Stiles and MD State Grange for participating in this press conference with Speaker of the Maryland House Michael Busch and other leaders.\u00a0 Three TV stations and the participants were very interested to hear what \u201cthe farmer\u201d had to say.\u00a0<\/p>\n
RALI Maryland is a coalition of community leaders, health care stakeholders, and business representatives working to address the opioid crisis in Maryland.\u00a0 RALI Maryland will \u201cengage stakeholders, including anti-addiction groups, caregivers, patients, law enforcement, \ufb01rst responders, EMTs, labor unions, employers, health care providers, veterans and civic organizations [Granges], among others to help implement programs that save lives and prevent the misuse of prescription opioids.\u201d<\/p>\n
April 28 was National Prescription Drug Takeback Day and RALI is distributing kits to neutralize opioid prescription drugs.\u00a0 However, you can also use cat litter or used coffee grounds to do the same thing.\u00a0 Many pharmacies and police stations also accept unwanted prescription drugs for safe disposal.\u00a0\u00a0 Is there some way your Grange could help with this? I\u2019m sure other states have similar campaigns that the Grange could assist with.<\/p>\n
Maryland State Grange is also planning to dedicate its booth at the MD State Fair in late summer to the opioid issue. One simple thing Granges can do is encourage safe disposal of prescription drugs so they are not sitting in our medicine cabinets, available for abuse.\u00a0 This sounds like a great topic for a Lecturer\u2019s program and discussion at your next meeting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"