FIGHTING OPIOID EPIDEMIC: Local and state officials called for a collaborative strategy to battle an opioid epidemic sweeping the state across jurisdictional lines at a summit organized by leaders of Anne Arundel, Harford and Howard counties Tuesday. Fatimah Waseem of the Howard County Times reports that despite recent statewide efforts to fund prevention and treatment, Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh said the surge in opioid-related deaths clearly shows those efforts are “not working.”
LAWMAKERS URGE HALT TO RX POT PROGRAM: A group of Maryland lawmakers met with medical marijuana regulators on Tuesday and urged them to halt the program until a dispute over racial diversity in the burgeoning industry is resolved, Fenit Nirappil of the Post is reporting. But officials with the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission retorted that they are wary of additional delays in making the drug available to patients, according to a lawmaker and commission staffer present at the meeting.
