Senate passes bipartisan bill to combat painkiller abuse, heroin addiction
WASHINGTON — The Senate passed a bipartisan bill Thursday to help states and local governments fight Americans' growing addiction to heroin and prescription painkillers — an epidemic that has caused drug overdose to become the nation's leading cause of accidental death.
Senators voted 94-1 to approve the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, which was sponsored by Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio. The bill authorizes the attorney general to provide grants to states, local governments and non-profit groups for programs to strengthen prescription drug monitoring, improve treatment for addicts, and expand prevention, education and law enforcement initiatives.
The bill still must be approved by the House, where it has been introduced by Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis.
The Senate vote came after Democrats complained that the bill does not include any money to carry out the programs.
The legislation authorizes $725 million for federal grants but does not allocate any actual funds, which would have to be approved as part of legislation to fund federal agencies for the 2017 fiscal year. Senate Republicans last week blocked an effort by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., to add $600 million in emergency money to the bill.
"Let's not pretend that there is new money for this," Whitehouse said. "The sooner we can get this funded, the sooner we can save lives."
GOP leaders said that Congress already appropriated more than $400 million in funds that are available now for programs to combat opioid abuse as part of a huge spending bill passed in December.
"This authorization bill, in conjunction with the $400 million appropriated for opioid-specific programs just a few months ago, can make important strides in combating the growing addiction and overdose problem we’ve seen in all 50 states," said Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
President Obama is asking Congress for an extra $1.1 billion in his 2017 budget request to pay for drug treatment for people addicted to prescription painkillers and heroin.
Each day, 44 people die in the U.S. from an overdose of prescription painkillers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Drug overdose is now the the leading cause of accidental death in the United States, surpassing car crashes, according to the American Society of Addiction Medicine. Opioid abuse is the main problem, with nearly 19,000 overdose deaths related to prescription pain relievers and nearly 10,600 overdose deaths related to heroin in 2014. The rate of heroin overdose deaths nearly quadrupled from 2000 to 2013 as many prescription drug abusers turned to the illegal drug as a cheaper alternative that is easier to get, the society said.
The most common drugs involved in prescription overdose deaths include hydrocodone, oxycodone, oxymorphone, and methadone, according to the CDC. People who take prescription painkillers can become addicted with just one prescription. Nearly 7,000 people are treated in hospital emergency rooms every day for abusing painkillers, the CDC said.
The legislation passed by the Senate authorizes the expansion of prescription drug monitoring programs, which are state-run databases that track the prescribing and dispensing of controlled prescription drugs to patients. The databases can track whether patients are filling multiple prescriptions for painkillers from more than one doctor.
Federal grant money could be used to help develop drug treatment programs as alternatives to putting opioid addicts in jail. Grants also could pay for special programs to help military veterans overcome their addiction to painkillers.
The bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services to convene an inter-agency task force to develop best practices for prescribing pain medication to try to reduce over-dependence on opioids.
Senate poised to pass bill to combat heroin use and prescription drug abuse