The U.S. House of Representatives passed a set of opioid legislations on May 11 to fight prescription drug addiction.
The House is particularly looking at lifting the opioid and heroin addiction epidemic in the country. In a span of a week, members of the congress are expected to approve about 18 bills that center on treatment, prevention and overall opioid addiction.
Bills Passed
For starters, the House has already passed 10 bills. Among those bills is the creation of an inter-office committee to update protocols for doctors with regard to painkiller prescription and management.
Legislators also gave the green light to a bill that requires states to receive federal funds for child-protective services so that babies born to mothers with opioid addiction will receive adequate care.
More bills are expected to arise in the coming days.
Rep. Vern Buchanan from (R-Fla.) says the set of anti-drug bills will provide important measures to alleviate drug abuse, support family members on their road to recovery and postpone the transmission of drugs in the nation.
For Rep. Jim McGovern of (D-Mass.), the bills are good, but enough funds are needed for them to have any beneficial effect. He adds that if this is not addressed, then all the meetings held this week will "amount to empty rhetoric."
The Democrats had already proposed a change in funding to put $600 million in emergency funds, but it was refuted by the Republicans, saying the money will be provided in 2017, when the Congress passes spending bills for federal offices.
White House's Take
The Obama administration is well aware of the opioid addiction problem in the country and welcomes the new bills to help affected families and individuals. This is the reason why the President had asked the Congress to pass a $1.1 billion budget to address the disorder in February.
Such presidential budget will enable officials to put treatment providers in communities where help is needed the most. It will also help the government achieve its goals of implementing evidence-based preventive actions, widening access to opioid antidote naloxone, enhancing painkiller prescription and supporting enforcement programs.
The White House acknowledges that more and more Americans succumb to addiction problems, and each day the Congress does not act regarding funding is a missed chance to support lives.
"We continue to call on Congress to provide the resources to ensure that every American who wants treatment can get it and start the road to recovery," says Michael Botticelli, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
