Speech and Testimony
County Executive Leggett’s Remarks at the Opioid Press Conference
Executive Office Building; 101 Monroe Street, CECR, Rockville
As prepared
Every day brings fresh evidence of the very real damage that the Opioid crisis in wreaking on individuals and communities throughout our great nation.
I wish I could stand here and tell you that Montgomery County is immune to this epidemic. Unfortunately, I cannot do that. Ask our first-responders in our Fire & Rescue Service and in our Police. Ask our front-line personnel in Health & Human Services.
Death. Addiction. Broken families. Broken lives. We are living this reality today.
As we continue to respond as a County to the critical needs created by this epidemic, I wanted to do more. I wanted to reach out and ask that those manufacturers of opioids who marketed the drugs and possibly downplayed their addictive nature be held responsible somehow for the consequences of those actions.
That is why I asked for – and the Council approved, today – the hiring of outside counsel to investigate the culpability of opioid producers and move to take legal action to force them to reimburse the County for taxpayer resources that have been, are, and will be used to respond to the crisis.
Just what that lawsuit will look like, we do not now know. Our announcement today, however, starts the ball rolling.
I want you to hear from the Council President, Dr. Crowel from HHS, our County Attorney, and our outside counsel about the importance of this issue and where we go from here.
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Release ID: 17-123
Tuesday, December 12, 2017; 12:15 p.m.