Nineteen individuals selected for their personal and professional experience with opioid addiction and its consequences will help guide Minnesota’s efforts to combat a drug and overdose epidemic that has spread to every region of the state. The members of the newly appointed Opioid Epidemic Response Advisory Council bring a wide range of background and expertise to address a complex and multi-faceted problem. The council will hold its first meeting on Friday, Sept. 27. Its first report and project funding recommendations are due in March of 2020. Included among the members is Minnesota Ambulance Association Representative Peter Carlson, of Cannon Falls. Eleven of the council’s 19 voting members were appointed by Human Services Commissioner Jodi Harpstead, with another eight directly appointed by statute. The council is under the administration of the Department of Human Services.
