Montana AG Creates A New Program To Address Growing Substance Abuse Crisis

The Montana Department of Justice and Attorney General Tim Fox have launched a new initiative called Aid Montana. Fox says this program will be a comprehensive approach to addressing Montana’s substance abuse problem.

“We rolled this program out in April and we have partnered since with the Montana Healthcare Foundation,” said Fox. “We are trying to analyze and study the substance abuse problem in Montana, which is huge, the societal impact, the human impact, looking to see what we are doing right and what is not working.”

According to Fox, The Montana Healthcare Foundation will be hosting a number of listening sessions all across the state to discuss this issue.

“We had our first one in Butte last Friday,” Fox said. “Kalispell will have a listening session on June 22 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. There will be another one in Billings on July 20 and another one in Havre on July 21. People can go to our website at www.dojmt.gov.”

Fox says nearly 64,000 Montanans suffered from substance abuse disorders in 2016 and the state only had the capacity to treat 6,000 individuals in need of treatment.