Government officials, health officials and students are coming together to work towards a solution to the opioid epidemic.
CajunCodeFest being held Friday and Saturday in Lafayette allows community members to participate in talks, presentations and a roundtable session that focuses on opioid addiction prevention, treatment and recovery.
Senator Bill Cassidy also spoke on ways to overcome the challenges the state faces. "If federal resources can be used by state and local entities to stop the supply of drugs, to decrease the demand of drugs, to use big data in the case of this conference to help do that, then we will have healthier families and we will have safer communities," said Cassidy.
"We have lots of great people that we are now calling on to apply their capacity, to apply their intellect, and to apply their time to find a solution so Louisiana can lead the nation in finding solutions to problems," said Dr. Rames Kolluru, V.P.for Research, Innovation and Economic Development, UL.
USDA Rural Development State Director Dr. Carrie Castille facilitated a USDA Opioid Roundtable Discussion to help address the nation’s growing opioid epidemic. Key topics included challenges associated with substance use disorder; strategies for prevention, treatment and recovery; and how these measures can be replicated to effectively address the epidemic in other rural communities."For the state ranked at the bottom of the list, for us to become a national leader in designing and developing innovative solutions," Dr. Castille. "We believe we have the capabilities to do it, we have the partnerships in place to do it, we have phenomenal speakers and experts that we have pulled together."
