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Governor's opioid task force holds second meeting, prepares recommendations for combating epidemic

Posted at 5:12 PM, Oct 09, 2019
and last updated 2019-10-09 19:12:39-04

MERIDIAN, Idaho — Governor Little's opioid task force held their second meeting Wednesday, continuing their efforts to end the opioid epidemic in Idaho.

The task force consists of people from all around the state, and currently they're working to establish a set of recommendations to give to the governor by the beginning of the year.

"We talked about residential treatment programs where people need to be able to have full time, 24/7 support for a period of time," something Ben Smalley, Administrator at Intermountain Cassia Regional Hospital believes is critical for those battling the epidemic. Currently, that option is very limited in Idaho, with only four centers statewide, three of which are in the Treasure Valley.

The task force's goal is to make at least a few recommendations by the end of the year, giving Governor Little some options for legislation in the 2020 legislative session.

The task force plans to continue holding meetings every other month at locations throughout the state, for the entire 18 months the task force is working toward tackling the epidemic.