Number
180215
Version
ORIGINAL
Reference
Sponsor
ALD. MURPHY
Title
Resolution approving the expenditure of $10,000 from the Health Department’s Professional Services account to partner with Take Back My Meds Milwaukee for a media campaign to promote safe disposal of opioid prescription medicines.
Analysis
This resolution approves the allocation of $10,000 from the Health Department’s Professional Services operating expenditure account as contemplated in 2018 Budget Amendment 1G (Omnibus), which provided a $50,000 increase in that account for an opiate, heroin, and cocaine addiction education campaign. The $10,000 allocation will be used to partner with Take Back My Meds Milwaukee for a media campaign to promote safe disposal of opioid prescription medicines. Take Back My Meds Milwaukee is a coalition of community groups that provides dropboxes at pharmacies and other locations for the safe disposal of unused and unneeded medicines to reduce the misuse and incorrect disposal of such medicines in landfills or sewer systems.
Body
Whereas, Misuse and abuse of opioid prescription medicines is a critical public health problem leading to numerous deaths in Milwaukee County every year; and
Whereas, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has characterized misuse of prescription opioids as a public health epidemic in the United States; and
Whereas, Take Back My Meds Milwaukee is a coalition dedicated to making it easier for Milwaukee County residents to combat the opioid crisis by safely disposing of unused prescription medicine at a growing network of secure drug take back dropbox locations; and
Whereas, At its November 10, 2017, Budget adoption meeting, the Common Council added $50,000 of expenditure authority to the Health Department’s 2018 Professional Services account for an opiate, heroin, and cocaine addiction education campaign; and
Whereas, At its April 27, 2018, meeting, the City-County Heroin, Opioid, and Cocaine Task Force unanimou...
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