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Friday, May 13, 2016
A set of 18 opioid and heroin treatment bills approved today and earlier this week by the U.S. House of Representatives are expected to be merged with the Comprehensive Addiction & Recovery Act already passed in the Senate and co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R., Ohio).
Mr. Portman, who has been complaining about a lack of action by the House on the legislation, today said the House bills bring Congress closer to passing legislation to address a deadly epidemic.
“While I remain concerned that the House approach is not truly comprehensive I am hopeful we can resolve our differences rather quickly. Heroin and prescription drugs are devastating our families and communities, and I remain committed to ensuring that we deliver a bill to the president’s desk that combats this epidemic in a comprehensive way,” Mr. Portman said in a statement distributed today.
The differences between the series of House bills and the CARA, which the Senate passed in March by a vote of 94-1, are expected to be worked out in a conference committee. A spokesman for Mr. Portman said the senator will insist that CARA be included in any final agreement.
In the House, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan (D., Niles) said fatal drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in Ohio. Mr. Ryan, co-chair of the Congressional Addiction, Treatment and Recovery Caucus, said the bills still need emergency funding to help law enforcement officers, public health officials, community leaders, and educators do their jobs.
Opioids include prescription pain medication and heroin. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, opioids were involved in 28,647 deaths in the United States in 2014. It said there have been alarming increases in deaths from heroin and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.
The Obama Administration submitted a proposal in February for $1.1 billion in new funding to address the epidemic and expand access to treatment for prescription opioid abuse and heroin use. The funding also would support the placement of substance use disorder treatment providers in the communities most in need, and would continue to build effective, evidence-based treatment programs, the administration said.