The Maryland Governor’s task force on the heroin epidemic has handed in its recommendations which includes a needle exchange program.
In addition, the panel calls for the stepping up treatment programs as well as providing support services for pregnant women with substance abuse problems.
The panel also recommended legislation that would require prescribers and dispensers of drugs to register with and use the state’s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program...for drugs containing an opiod or benzodiazephine.
Another recommendation calls for bring Maryland’s racketeering law into line with federal law in prosecuting drug dealers.
Finally, the panel wants to make it a crime to the directly or indirectly distribute of heroin or fentanyl a crime when it contributes to an overdose.
