WESTON, WI (WSAU) — Governor Scott Walker embarked on a tour of the northern half of the state Monday to sign several bills fighting against opioid addiction.
The bills fit in to the Heroin Opiate Prevention and Education (H.O.P.E.) agenda forwarded by Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette), who’s daughter, Cassie, has been battling a heroin addiction for most of her adult life. Governor Walker said that while most people think of opioids as hard drugs, he refers to them by where people typically find them, as prescription drugs.
“It’s a prescription drug, it’s in your house right now. We all have a role to play, for those who don’t even think that we do,” said Walker. “It’s a tough case to make, because we’re not telling people not to take their medicine… but watch what you’re taking, especially when it comes to painkillers.
“We talk about drugs and usually people think about big urban areas.. It can happen in small towns, big cities, suburbs, and anywhere in between.”
The three bills signed in Weston give school bus drivers and other school employees with proper training the legal protection to administer lifesaving drugs to someone experiencing an overdose, requires the Department of Public Instruction to establish a mental health training support program, and allows for the charter of a pilot “recovery high shcool,” combining academic coursework, therapeutic programming, support, and substance abuse counseling.
Attorney General Brad Schimel and Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch were also part of the tour. Kleefisch and Nygren serve as the co-chairs of the Governor’s Task Force on Opioid Abuse.
