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VietnameseGriffin: ‘Since 2014, more than 800 Arkansans have died from an overdose of drugs … we must do everything in our power to bring that number to zero’
LITTLE ROCK – Attorney General Tim Griffin announced today that he will host the Stop Overdose Summit on November 8 in Little Rock and issued the following statement:
“Since 2014, more than 800 Arkansans have died from an overdose of drugs. That is heartbreaking, and we must do everything in our power to bring that number to zero. That’s why I will host the Stop Overdose Summit on Wednesday, November 8, at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock. Known previously as the Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Summit, this year’s event will bring leading experts and those working on the front lines of reducing and eliminating overdose deaths together to share information on what strategies are working and where we can do more.
“I am proud of my office’s efforts this year to address this problem. Earlier this year we worked closely with the legislature, with the support of Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, to pass legislation to stiffen penalties and better hold criminals accountable for distributing fentanyl—the leading cause of overdose in the country.
“My office is also responsible for administering one-third of Arkansas’s share of the national opioid litigation settlements. I am thoughtfully working through all grant requests to ensure that settlement funds I distribute provide a lasting impact that will move the needle in our fight against opioids.”
The Stop Overdose Summit, which is free to attend, will feature five tracks to provide information tailored to a variety of groups working to stop overdoses in Arkansas. The tracks are Clinical, Criminal Justice, Education/Prevention, Counseling/Recovery, and Family. The summit is being supported by the Arkansas State Drug Director; the Arkansas State Board of Pharmacy; the University of Arkansas System’s Criminal Justice Institute; the Arkansas Alcohol Drug Coordinating Council; the Arkansas Medical Board; the Arkansas Department of Human Services; the Arkansas Department of Health; the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences; the Arkansas Prescription Drug Monitoring Program; the Arkansas State Board of Nursing; the University of Arkansas-Little Rock MidSOUTH; the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; the Arkansas Pharmacy Association; and the Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership.
To register for free for the summit, click here.
About Attorney General Tim Griffin
Tim Griffin was sworn in as the 57th Attorney General of Arkansas on January 10, 2023, having
previously served as the state’s 20th Lieutenant Governor from 2015-2023. From 2011-2015, Griffin served as the 24th representative of Arkansas’s Second Congressional District, where he served on the House Committee on Ways and Means, House Armed Services Committee, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, House Committee on Ethics and House Committee on the Judiciary while also serving as a Deputy Whip for the Majority.
Griffin has served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps for more than 27 years and currently holds the rank of colonel. In 2005, Griffin was mobilized to active duty as an Army prosecutor at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and served with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in Mosul, Iraq.
He is currently serving as the Commander of the 2d Legal Operations Detachment in New Orleans, Louisiana. His previous assignments include serving as the Commander of the 134th Legal Operations Detachment at Fort Liberty (née Bragg), North Carolina, and as a Senior Legislative Advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness at the Pentagon. Griffin earned a master’s degree in strategic studies as a Distinguished Honor Graduate from the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.
Griffin also served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Political Affairs for President George W. Bush; Special Assistant to Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice; Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Arkansas; Senior Investigative Counsel, Government Reform and Oversight Committee, U.S. House of Representatives; and Associate Independent Counsel, Office of Independent Counsel David M. Barrett, In re: HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros.
Griffin is a graduate of Magnolia High School, Hendrix College in Conway, and Tulane Law School in New Orleans. He attended graduate school at Oxford University. He is admitted to practice law in Arkansas (active) and Louisiana (inactive). Griffin attends Immanuel Baptist Church and lives in Little Rock with his wife, Elizabeth, a Camden native, and their three children.
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