To combat the growing public heath issue of opioid overdoses, Cobb County and Cobb and Douglas Public Health staff are hosting a forum on opioid abuse from 8 a.m. to noon on Jan. 27.
The meeting will be held at the Jim Miller Park Event Center, 2245 Callaway Road, Marietta.
The Cobb County Opioid Prevention and Response Model will be discussed, which encourages a community approach and focuses on work in seven areas.
Breakfast and networking will start at 8 a.m., and the program will begin at 8:30 a.m.
Opioid-involved deaths have been increasing rapidly in Georgia since 2010, according to a Cobb County statement.
Of Georgia’s counties, Cobb had the highest rate of opioid-related overdose deaths in 2017 and the second highest in 2018, the statement added.
The Cobb County Opioid Fatality Review Project is an initiative to combat the opioid epidemic in Cobb County that is funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Program.
In November, Cobb County officials traveled to Erie County, New York, an area that has success in implementing programs for opioid response, with grant funds to receive technical assistance.
Members of the Cobb team include Dr. Jackie McMorris, Deputy County Manager, Cobb County Government; Jason Saliba, Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney, Cobb District Attorney’s Office; Dennis Thayer, Public Health Analyst / Opioid Coordinator, Cobb and Douglas Public Health; Matthew Mize, Opioid Project Investigator, Cobb District Attorney’s Office; Joshua Liedke, Officer, Marietta Police Department and Kevin Baldwin, Project Researcher, Applied Research Services.
Register: 770-514-2482 or email mia.taylor@dph.ga.gov
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