Earlier this month it was announced the state has received two federal grants from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to combat the heroin and opioid addiction crisis. Illinois is getting $8 million in all. Money will be used to supply more of the opioid over-dose reversal drug Naloxone to first responders, and to expand outpatient methadone treatment services.
In Springfield this month, a conference on substance abuse with an emphasis on opioid addiction was hosted in part by a community group based out of Bureau and Putnam counties in northern Illinois, it's called Community Partners Against Substance Abuse , or CPASA. I spoke with Terry Madsen at the conference. He used to be a circuit judge and he's one of the founding members of CPASA, he also works with local public health departments in three northern counties. Listen to the interview:
