Maryland Rep. David Trone and Sen. Ben Cardin gather state officials, discuss treating mental health and addiction post-pandemic
Credit: WDVM, Roshan Davis
As Marylanders are seeing the light at the end of the pandemic, many state officials are looking to help people recover from the past year. Maryland 6th District Representative David Trone is focusing his attention on the mental health of residents and gathered Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md) and several experts across the state to talk about possible plans to solve this issue.
Trone said more people are reporting thoughts of suicide than have ever been recorded, and there was a 29% increase in drug overdose deaths in 2020.
Millions of dollars to support mental health and addiction have already been granted to the state of Maryland, but Trone is pushing for resources other than money to be put towards this problem.
“Unlike COVID, there will be no vaccine to cure mental illness or addiction … We need an open and ongoing dialogue, and we need experts,” said Trone.
During the roundtable, the experts also stressed the importance of the mental health of children, especially after spending so long learning remotely.
