The Utah Legislature’s Social Services Appropriations Subcommittee is seeking public input from concerned citizens in regards to the opioid epidemic that Carbon County has been facing. A discussion will be held on Monday, September 17 at 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm at the Carbon County Fairgrounds Events Center in Room 118A located at 450 South Fairgrounds Way.

The Town Hall Meeting was organized by the committee chairman. “Representative Paul Ray is the Chairman of this and when he heard that Carbon County was having such a struggle with the opioid addiction issue he went ahead and found funding for us,” stated State Representative, Christine Watkins. This funding has helped to establish two new positions within the Southeastern Utah Health Department that will focus on this issue.

“We’re going to have a Town Hall which is saying that they are bringing their committee meeting down here and they don’t do that every day. This is a large committee for the three hours and so they want to give us information but they also want to hear from us and what do we need,” stated Watkins. Lawmakers understand through the numbers that there is a problem with opioids in our rural community.

The Utah Legislature is seeking public input about –

How has the opioid crisis has impacted you?

How do you think the newly implemented interventions are working?

Does additional action need to be taken to help address the opioid crisis?

If you would like to address the committee during the meeting please visit http://house.utah.gov/opioidmeeting/
to sign up for Public Comment.