Opioid-overdose deaths have nearly tripled since 2000, and Congress is finally doing something about it.
On Thursday, the House of Representatives passed what the New York Times calls “a mountain of bills” that aim to curb opioid abuse. The bills would establish new rules, more research, and federal grants. One of the bills will allocate $103 million annually in federal grants for the next five years for several services. It was a 413-5 vote.
“This problem is a problem for America,” Rep. Doug Collins (R,Ga.) said this week. “This problem has exploded.”
The measures would amp up law enforcement, create grants, monitor prescriptions, and train first responders on how to administer Narcan, the shot that can save a heroin or opioid user from overdose.
In a rare show of unity, the bills were passed with a bipartisan majority.
Rep. Dan Donovan (R, N.Y.), a former district attorney in Staten Island, told The Wall Street Journal that he has seen addiction treatment centers knuckle down to get the most basic of resources.
“In the treatment field, there’s never enough beds,” Donovan said. “When you have somebody who’s ready to go [into treatment], you can’t tell them to come back a week from now. You’ve lost that person. You’ve got to grab them right then.”
According to the CDC, prescription painkillers, heroin, and other opioids resulted in 61 percent of the 47,055 drug overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2014. That’s nearly 29,000 people.
But not every proposal was met. Speaking on the floor of the House, Rep. Joe Courtney, (D., Conn.) floated a provision for an amendment to administer an extra $600 million in emergency funds.
“We have an epidemic in this country which far surpasses any challenge presented by a natural disaster,” Mr. Courtney said, playing show-and-tell with some maps. “If we had an attack on the homeland that took the number of lives that these maps represent, this Congress would be on fire.”
When the House and the Senate agree to consolidate the several measures of their respective bills, President Obama is expected to sign a bill into law.
Government officials across the party spectrums have recently emboldened their efforts to combat the opioid epidemic. Back in February, Obama proposed $1.1 billion in new funding to curb opioid abuse. In March, the CDC issued its recommendations on prescribing opioids and the FDA vowed to institute new warning labels on prescription painkillers.
The death of Prince, presumably from opioid painkillers, only highlights the issue even more. Prince’s toxicology report is expected in the coming days.
