Stringer to Congress: COVID effects on substance use

Abstract

On March 11, Mark Stringer, director of the Missouri Department of Mental Health, as well as immediate past president of the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD) board of directors and chair of NASADAD's Public Policy Committee, told the House of Representatives’ Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies that the pandemic has had a disproportionate effect on Black individuals in Missouri in terms of overdose trends. He also discussed the important role of the single state authority in managing the publicly funded addiction treatment, prevention and recovery service system, as well as using innovative approaches to adapt to the pandemic.