For Immediate Release: Friday, July 21, 2017
Montgomery Council Committee to
Discuss Heroin, Opioid and Narcan Use
Also on Monday, July 24: Police community engagement, menu labeling and small business assistance
ROCKVILLE, Md., July 21, 2017—The Montgomery County Council’s Public Safety Committee, which is chaired by Councilmember Marc Elrich and includes Councilmembers Tom Hucker and Sidney Katz, will meet jointly with the Health and Human Services Committee, which is chaired by Councilmember George Leventhal and includes Council President Roger Berliner and Councilmember Craig Rice, at 10:45 a.m. on Monday, July 24 to receive an update from the Montgomery County Police Department and the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service on heroin, opioid and Narcan use in the County. The Police Department also will provide an update on community engagement initiatives to the Public Safety Committee at 9:30 a.m. The Health and Human Services Committee will meet at 9:30 a.m. to get an update on menu labeling from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). At 2 p.m. the Planning, Housing and Economic Development Committee will review Bill 4-17, which would expand the County’s small business assistance program.
The Public Safety and Health and Human Services Committees will meet in the Seventh Floor Hearing Room of the Council Office Building at 100 Maryland Ave. in Rockville. The 10:45 a.m. meeting will be will be televised live by County Cable Montgomery (CCM). The channel can be viewed on Cable Channels 996 (high definition) and 6 (standard definition) on Comcast; Channels 1056 (HD) and 6 (SD) on RCN; and Channel 30 on Verizon. The session also will be available live via streaming through the Council web site at http://tinyurl.com/z9982v8 .
Scott Goldstein, Chief, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS); Russell Hamill, Assistant Chief, Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD); Betsy Davis, Assistant Chief, MCPD; Paul Liquorie, Captain, Special Investigations Division, MCPD; John Kinsley, Division Chief, MCFRS; and Dr. Raymond Crowel, Chief, Behavioral Health and Crisis Services, Health and Human Services, are expected to attend the joint Public Safety and Health and Human Services Committee meeting. The topics that will be discussed include: statistics on the number of overdose calls, arrests and Narcan use; information on synthetic opiates, such as Fentanyl; and the potential dangers to first responders from handling these drugs. The staff report can be viewed at:
http://montgomerycountymd.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=169&event_id=5978&meta_id=141943 .
In 2016 County Cable Montgomery took an in-depth look at heroin use in the County with Heroin—The Quiet Epidemic. The show includes profiles of individuals who use heroin, explains how they became addicted to the drug and features public safety officials discussing how they are responding to this drug epidemic. You can view this program at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkHtrNxkXPE .
At 9:30 a.m. in the Seventh Floor Hearing Room, Assistant Chief Darryl McSwain and Captain Marc Yamada, Director of Community Engagement Services, will update the Public Safety Committee on community engagement initiatives in the Police Department. These activities have been expanded to provide enhanced communication. In addition, the FY18 operating budget included two new patrol officers to work exclusively with community services. The staff report can be viewed at:
http://montgomerycountymd.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=169&event_id=5978&meta_id=141939 .
Also at 9:30 a.m. in the Third Floor Council Conference Room, the Health and Human Services Committee will receive an update from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) on menu labeling and children’s meals sold by restaurants. Dr. Margo G. Wootan, Director of Nutrition Policy, CSPI, and Melvin R. Thompson, Senior Vice President for Governmental Affairs and Public Policy, Restaurant Association of Maryland, are expected to attend the meeting.
Dr. Wootan will discuss the delay in the federal requirements for menu labeling that were supposed to be effective on May 5, 2017. Since the County has implemented local menu labeling requirements, the impact of the delay does not change the requirements for restaurants in the County (that have more than 20 locations in the United States). The delay does affect the establishments that are exempt from County law, such as grocery stores, convenience stores and movie theaters. These establishments are not required to show calorie counts or other information. The staff report can be viewed at:
http://montgomerycountymd.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=169&event_id=5979&meta_id=141870 .
The Planning, Housing and Economic Development Committee, which is chaired by Councilmember Nancy Floreen and includes Councilmembers George Leventhal and Hans Riemer, will meet at 2 p.m. in the Seventh Floor Council Hearing Room to review Bill 4-17, Economic Development Fund – Small Business Assistance Program – Amendments. Bill 4-17 would expand the eligibility for grants or loans under the small business assistance program to a business adversely impacted by a County redevelopment project located in a parking lot district. Councilmember Elrich is the lead sponsor. Councilmembers Floreen, Katz and Rice are cosponsors. The staff report can be viewed at:
http://montgomerycountymd.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=169&event_id=5980&meta_id=141874 .
In 2012 the Council unanimously enacted Bill 6-12, which established a program to assist small businesses located in either an enterprise zone or an urban renewal area of the County that are adversely impacted by a County redevelopment project or a redevelopment project located on County property. Councilmember Nancy Navarro was the lead sponsor of Bill 6-12. Council President Berliner and Councilmembers Floreen and Leventhal were cosponsors. Bill 4-17 would expand this program.
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Release ID: 17-236