“According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (commonly known as NIDA), the number of prescriptions for opioids increased from approximately 76 million in 1991 to nearly 207 million in 2013, and the United States is the biggest consumer of opioids globally, accounting for almost 100 percent of the world total for hydrocodone and 81 percent for oxycodone”, the bill states.
Advertisement
In 2015 alone, heroin and prescription drug overdoses claimed the lives of more than 700 Virginians. Non-profit groups that help prevent and treat opioid abuse would be eligible for federal grants along with states and local governments.
“CARA is a good step forward, this bipartisan bill”, Senator Warner said.
CARA also includes provisions of a bill recently introduced in the House by Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-5th District, that would boost educational efforts on the dangers of opioid use. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.
“It’s really important that we make better strides against drug abuse and drug overdoses and have more prevention and more services to those with a drug addiction problem”, said Sen. “But we also know there are steps we can take here in the Senate that can help heal our nation”. The move means Congress will have to find additional money to support the programs authorized in the bill.
Five Senators missed the vote, including presidential candidates Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, provides no new money to fund its ambitious goals after Republican lawmakers killed a Democratic plan last week to provide $600 million in funding for measure. More than 47,000 overdose deaths occurred in the U.S.in 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and overdose deaths now outnumber deaths from auto accidents.
CARA hopes to broaden the use of naloxone by offering liability protections to state officials who distribute it. In those cities, firefighters and other emergency personnel carry Narcan.
And for those who overdose on heroin or opioids, the bill calls for the expansion of naloxone, an easy-to-use antidote. “More Americans die each year from drug overdoses than auto crashes”, Udall said. New Mexico could have received an estimated $3 million in additional funding to combat substance abuse if Senate Republicans had not blocked the measure.
Advertisement
The state troopers’ Narcan is funded through an asset forfeiture account, and cost $33,312 so far this year, said Connecticut Under Secretary for Criminal Justice Policy and Planning Mike Lawlor.
