The House approbated the bills regulating the nation's dangerous situation about opioid abuse strengthened by lawmaker's bipartisan desire for election-year action on the implacable epidemic. The bills were passed on Wednesday to combat heroin addiction as well but the action won't be achieved much except Congress provides more than $1 billion to finance the programs.
According to abc News, almost 2 million people misuse opioid painkillers prescription and in 2012 almost half a million more were addicted to heroin. Both parties are enthusiastic to show voters they are addressing the issue that affects both inner cities and rural communities.
Democrats being joined by the White House are supporting the bills but also quibbling that little would be achieved without funds. President Obama proposed an additional $1.1 billion to address the issue.
Without money, the House bills "would do little to help the thousands of Americans struggling with addiction," the White House wrote in a statement to lawmakers.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that 44 people die each day in the United States from prescription painkillers overdose which is now the leading reason of accidental death beating car crashes.
The Senate voted 94-1 to pass the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act in March. The bill permits the attorney general to give grants to local governments, states and non-profit groups for programs to toughen prescription drug monitoring, improve addiction treatment and widen prevention, education and law enforcement movements, as reported by TribLive.
In 2014, heroin, prescription painkillers and other opioids were associated in 61% of the 47,055 reported drug overdose deaths in the country.
"In the treatment field, there's never enough beds," Rep. Dan Donovan said who was a former Staten Island district attorney. "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," as quoted by The Wall Street Journal.
The epidemic is noticeable for affecting people regardless of race and income levels. Prince's death from last month is being blamed to opioid overdose putting another spotlight on the issue.
House member s are anticipated to mostly by far authorize 18 bills this week concentrating on opioid addiction, treatment and prevention.
