Governor Jack Markell (D-Delaware) joined advocates and other state officials at the Delaware Department of Health and Social Service’s Holloway Center in New Castle Tuesday to mark new efforts to combat drug addiction in the state.
Those efforts include using a $10 million federal grant to improve substance abuse prevention services for young Delawareans and a new resource website.
The website, HelpIsHereDE.com, offers contact information for treatment centers and other information for users, family members and medical providers
Dave Humes, the director of the advocacy group Attack Addiction, says the website is a positive development in fighting substance abuse in Delaware.
"The website itself gives somebody a place to go right away to learn a little bit about it and find out where they can get some immediate help," sad Humes. "I think this is a huge step, because I think one of the big problems is that people are afraid to talk about it and they don’t know where to go.
Gov. Markell also announced the opening of a new drug detox center in Sussex County early next year.
Markell says the push to address substance abuse in Delaware represents a shift in how to combat addiction in the First State.
"I think we have, for a very long time, focused extensively on the criminal justice side and haven’t focused as much on reducing the demand," said Markell. "We aren’t going to arrest our way out of this problem."
The renewed effort to fight drug addiction in Delaware comes after the General Assembly passed a number of bills earlier this year aimed at making it easier to report drug overdoses and administer the overdose-reversing treatment Nalaxone.
