Houston-Harris County Regional Drug Summit: The Urgency of Now!
Who: Several Houston-Harris County area drug treatment providers, law enforcement, drug courts, local judges, businesses, educators, healthcare professionals, religious leaders, and community activists, along with many others join forces to develop and help carry out an effective strategy to fight drugs in our region.
Drug Summit partners include: Houston Crackdown-Office of the Mayor, Houston-Harris County Office of Drug Policy, Coalition of Behavioral Health Services, Houston Independent School District, Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities, Drug Enforcement Administration – Houston Field Office, and the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University.
Drug Summit Financial Contributors include: Behavioral Interventions, Inc., Coalition of Behavioral Health Services, Council on Alcohol and Drugs, Multi Health Systems, Inc., Pasadena Refining System, Inc., Phoenix House, and Santa Maria Hostel.
What: The 2008 Houston-Harris County Regional Drug Summit: The Urgency of Now! Will serve as a catalyst to design and implement a regional drug action plan that will serve this community and its residents for the next five years.
When: The regional drug summit will take place October 28-29, 2008 at 8:30 AM-4:00 PM, and both days of the summit will feature any number of speakers and experts providing the latest in news and information in the areas law enforcement, criminal justice systems measured statewide and how we size-up nationally, drug prevention and education in our schools, treatment and managed recovery care for all, and the need to create and maintain a localized real time database housing pertinent information on all aspects of the complex drug abuse issue.
Featured speakers and presenters include: John Walters, White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Director, Dr. Tom Kosten, Baylor College of Medicine and researcher for a vaccine to Cocaine and Methamphetamine addictions. Mayor Bill White, Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, US Congressional representative Shelia Jackson Lee, Mike Maples, Assistant Commissioner for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services- Texas Department of State Health Services, Beverley Watts Davis, Senior Advisor to the Substance Abuse mental Health Services Administration, Sue Thau, Policy Advisor, Community Anti-drug Coalitions of America.
Also featured will be a panel discussion on drug cases sentencing disparities in America; involving a Dallas Drug Court Judge, a former probation director for Brazoria County, and Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt.
Where: The James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy on the Campus of Rice University, 6100 Main St. The mapping strategy sessions get underway each day beginning at 8:30am.
Why: The Houston-Harris County region no longer has an active plan as the last drug summit yielded several accomplishments. A new plan is in order to pave the way in addressing drugs in the 21st century.
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