For a third year a coalition of organizations working on the frontlines of the overdose crisis in Louisville released a detailed policy agenda promoting proven housing, services and care approaches to safe lives and improve our city. In honor of International Overdose Awareness Day (August 31), we call on Mayor Greenberg and the Louisville Metro Government to commit resources toward enacting these solutions. And demand the political will to reject failed drug war and “tough on crime” approaches that are costly, ineffective and often make problems worse.
The time is now for Mayor Greenberg and the Louisville Metro Council to act. The federal government has allocated an unprecedented amount of resources that can be utilized to tackle a range of housing and other needs, and Jefferson County will receive $57 million in Opioid Abatement Settlement Funds over the next 18 years. The solutions are well known. The only thing that is needed is political will and the recognition of what led our city to this crisis.