The OPL hosts a public forum on Oneida’s opioid epidemic June 19

As the heroin and opioid epidemic has gripped many communities in the nation, the greater Oneida area has not been spared. But how great is the problem and what can we do about it?

Local experts in law-enforcement, the law, health, addiction, rehabilitation and recovery will converge on Oneida Public Library on Tuesday, June 19, at 7:00 p.m. for a Public Forum on Opioids in Oneida that will help define the local opioid probl.em. Discussion panel members will provide insight into the causes and remedies for addiction, the role of law-enforcement in prevention and the ways and means the public can help combat the epidemic. The discussion will open up to the audience for questions and comments.

The Public Forum will feature Eric Faisst, public health director in the Madison County Department of Health; Susan L. Jenkins, executive director of BRiDGES/Madison County Council on Alcohol and Substance Abuse; Dennis K. McDermott, Madison County Court judge, Family Court judge and head of the Madison County Family Treatment Program; Ofrona Reid, M.D., Oneida Healthcare’s vice president of medical affairs and chief medical officer; James Strail, program director at Liberty Resources’ Maxwell House, Oneida; and Paul Thompson, Oneida City Chief of Police.

The panel will be moderated by G. Richard Kinsella, Jr., president of the OPL Board of Trustees who worked for over 40 years in a variety of government and not-for-profit agencies serving people and families with alcohol and drug problems. Madison County Sheriff Todd Hood will also be in attendance to share a county-wide perspective on enforcing drug laws and dealing with overdosed addicts.

Oneida Public Library, BRiDGES/Madison County Council on Alcohol and Substance Abuse and the Central Region Addiction Resource Center are co-sponsoring the Public Forum.