DeLauro Joins White House for Series of Events on Drug Treatment Programs
NEW HAVEN, CT (February 16, 2016) — Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) today joined Michael Botticelli, Director of National Drug Control Policy at the White House, for a series of events to discuss solutions to the opioid abuse and overdose epidemic that is affecting communities nationwide.
This morning, DeLauro visited the methadone maintenance program at the New Haven Correctional Center to discuss best practices in criminal justice treatment programs. She later met with a group of doctors from the Connecticut State Medical Society for an update from doctors regarding the issues that they are experiencing with opioid use and treatment. In the afternoon, DeLauro attended a community discussion with Director Botticelli and Governor Malloy, along with educators, medical professionals, law enforcement officials, and others that have been affected by opioids.
“Connecticut loses hundreds of citizens every year to overdoses, and thousands more people are addicted or in recovery. One of the first steps we can take to fight this public health crisis is to expand access to naloxone in the community. Recently, I signed on to a letter to the Food and Drug Administration asking them to reclassify naloxone from a prescription to an over the counter medication, so that more people will have access to this life saving drug,” said Rosa DeLauro. “It is up to all of us to reduce the stigma surrounding substance abuse. We cannot afford to wait to act when addiction affects the lives of so many of our friends, family members, and neighbors.”
DeLauro is currently drafting a bill that would provide $1 billion a year for behavioral health and substance abuse programs to support community clinics and expand access to treatment for individuals with mental health issues and a history of substance abuse. She has also introduced the Public Health Emergency Preparedness Act, which would provide $5 billion to the emergency fund, which the Department of Health and Human Services could use to combat the opioid epidemic.
As the senior Democrat on the Labor, Health, and Education Appropriations subcommittee, which provides funding through the Department of Health and Human Services to support substance abuse efforts, DeLauro helped secure a $38.2 million dollar increase to the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant program for 2016. Many families without health coverage – or whose insurance will not cover recovery programs – rely on services funded by these grants.
In the recently passed 2016 budget bill, Congress also provided a $50 million increase for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Prescription Drug Overdose Prevention Program, which seeks to provide states with the resources they need to prevent prescription opioid overdoses by reducing the inappropriate prescribing practices that fuel the epidemic. With the increased funding, the CDC should be able to expand this critical program to Connecticut.
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