The Maryland State Drug and Alcohol Abuse Council was initially established by executive order in 2008, and codified into law on October 1, 2010, as part of a strategy to develop a comprehensive, coordinated, and strategic approach to ensure efficient and effective use of state and local resources in order to deliver a full continuum of drug and alcohol abuse prevention, intervention, and treatment services for residents of the state, including the needs of individuals in the criminal justice system as well as those with co-occurring problems requiring specialized services.