From Harford County government:
Joe Rannazzisi, a former DEA official who has charged the pharmaceutical industry with culpability in the opiate epidemic was the keynote speaker for Harford County’s 14th annual Drug Prevention, Intervention and Treatment Symposium held June 21 at Bel Air High School. More than 300 attendees heard Rannazzisi discuss his findings and goals to enforce the Controlled Substances Act.
The Harford County Office of Drug Control Policy holds the yearly symposium to educate professionals and the public on issues surrounding drug and alcohol abuse. In addition to a keynote speaker, the free conference offers continuing education credits for professionals in the fields of addiction, prevention, professional counseling and social work. Attendees benefit from learning about the latest developments, approaches and techniques. The symposium is held in partnership with the Harford County Health Department, Harford County Public Schools, and the Harford County Sheriff’s Office.
A vast array of topics were presented at this year’s morning and afternoon workshops with titles including: Substance Abuse Prevention and Suicide Prevention; Vicarious Trauma and Workplace Resilience; Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution; Relapse Prevention; and Spirituality and Recovery from a Neuroscience Perspective. Throughout the day, participants were also able to visit and network with 20 different exhibitors.
New to the symposium this year, was the I’M POWER’D Youth Summit, a series of workshops developed for teens. Topics included bullying, mental health, managing stress, fostering a healthy self-image, and social media safety. Twenty-seven young adults from throughout the County participated in the youth programming.
“I look forward to sharing what I learned today with my friends,” Jen, 17, said. “Teens don’t consciously understand the negative causes and implications of social media. It was eye-opening and scary to see how much information is shared on the internet and to learn about how that could hurt someone’s future.”
The final plenary address featured Dion Flynn, a former Harford County Public School student, known for his appearances as Barack Obama on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” Flynn is in long-term recovery and was cited by Oprah Magazine as “one of our favorite creative thinkers”; he presented his improv recovery workshop at the symposium.
“Our symposium is an important component of Harford County’s awareness strategy,” said Harford County Executive Barry Glassman. “We truly appreciate the tremendous support from our partners, special guests, and everyone who attended.”
For more information about drug abuse prevention and awareness programming in Harford County, contact the Office of Drug Control Policy at 410-638-3333, or www.harfordcountymd.gov/ODCP.
Legalize everything, use law enforcement and prisons against real criminals in the board rooms.
Sure am glad we continue to have symposiums. Any chance we could stop talking and Do something? After all how many more decades do we need to talk?
I resent where some busybodies are going with this opioid witch hunt. Some people, who don’t really understand what’s going on, are trying to criminalize opioids. They don’t seem to understand that some citizens need the relieve opioid give them. They can not be replaced with NSAIDs or other drugs due to drug interactions.
If people holding prescriptions for opioids would treat them with a little more respect, there wouldn’t need to be any more laws governing the use, prescribing and dispensing of these necessary medication.
I, for one, must go through a lot of hassle to obtain these drugs. I need to go to a specialist, where I am subjected to drug testing and other indignities, since neither my personal physician nor my orthopedic surgeon will not prescribe them. I don’t think some people understand just how tightly controlled the dispensing of these drugs already is in this state.
Please, people, concentrate on the real problem. HEROIN.
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I really wish people would get off this opioid witch hunt.
Did anyone ask the all mighty DEA agent why him and every member of that agency are enforcing laws that have been illegally and fraudulently enforced on the public by a government that doesn’t have any authority to create such laws? Did anyone ask him why he thinks he has the right to levy war on the American people and not be hung as a traitor? Look, addictive drugs are bad but a government who sponsors a war against its own people and does not have the authority to do such a thing is worse. They have assumed the authority by the use of the gun and bullet and every person they have harmed is against the law of god. He is a godless traitor to the United States and his agency is responsible for racketeering, murder, terrorism and treason against the United States. Instead of listening to a man like this, you should have asked him where in Article 1 Section 8 of the US Constitution does it say that the Federal Government has the authority to regulate the behavior of the people? It’s just not there and all laws made without a grant of authority by WE THE PEOPLE are in fact NULL and VOID. If you ever get the chance, ask him how many members of Congress got their pockets filled with money by the same group of people he is now speaking out against and why he thinks he has the consent of the people he has enforced laws of a statutory code against. Obviously, no one consented to being arrested and hauled off to jail. It was all against the will of every person he ever arrested. Laws of a statutory code must be consented upon by each person they are enforced upon and any consent gained by coercion is intolerable and repugnant to the US Constitution.
He can speak out now secure in his $90k annual pension, courtesy of the US taxpayer.