City to allocate $25,000 for heroin prevention project
Groundbreaking date for Everett Roehl Marshfield Public Library approved
By Adam Hocking
Editor
MARSHFIELD — The Marshfield Common Council unanimously approved the allocation of $25,000 to the Marshfield Area Coalition for Youth (MACY) on Tuesday, June 23, to help fund the organization’s anti-heroin and prescription drug abuse campaign. The allocation was previously approved by the city’s Finance, Budget, and Personnel Committee, and the funds will come from the city’s contingency budget.
MACY works to ensure the health and safety of Marshfield’s youth with a focus on alcohol and drug abuse issues. MACY formed a heroin ad-hoc committee in August of 2013.
According to a MACY memo citing information from the Wisconsin Department of Justice, “In 2014 Wood County had 36 heroin cases analyzed by the Wisconsin State Crime Lab, which places Wood County in the top 10 counties requesting analysis. Prior to 2009, Wood County had no reported cases of heroin.”
The memo also stated, “The Central Wisconsin Drug Task Force is comprised of 15 law enforcement agencies covering Wood and seven other counties. Since 2010 Marshfield Police Department seized 347.8 grams of heroin, which accounts for over half of the amount seized from the other 14 agencies.”
In response to these numbers, the ad-hoc committee wants to implement a public awareness campaign to educate about heroin abuse and combat its spread. MACY’s first goal will be to conduct a survey of the community’s perceptions about prescription drug and heroin abuse and then identify a strategy, likely involving local media, printed materials like brochures and flyers, and other efforts to create public awareness around the issue.
In other council news
The Marshfield Common Council unanimously approved the groundbreaking date for the new Everett Roehl Marshfield Public Library. Groundbreaking will be Friday, July 31, at 11 a.m.
“I think there’s a lot of people who are ready to do some high-fiving at that point,” said City Administrator Steve Barg of the groundbreaking.
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