Over 200 people attended a town hall meeting to discuss the growing epidemic of heroin and opioid drug addiction in Centre County. A group of panelists ranging from law enforcement, medical professionals and public health officials focused on raising awareness and the need to treat drug addiction as a disease.
One of the panelists, Jason Snyder, is the communications director for the Pennsylvania department of drug and alcohol programs. He spoke about how prevalent heroin and opioid addiction has become. He said, “Cleary an epidemic. In fact, clearly the worst public health crisis that we have seen as a nation, as a state, in the last 100 years.”
This was the first in a series of town hall meetings on the heroin and opioid epidemic. The next, which will focus on treatment and recovery, is tentatively scheduled for September 13.
