Pubdate: Fri, 11 Mar 2016
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2016 The New York Times Company
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Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: Jennifer Steinhauer

SENATE PASSES BILL TO TREAT AND PREVENT ABUSE OF DRUGS

WASHINGTON - Responding to a drug crisis that has contributed to more 
American deaths than car crashes, the Senate on Thursday 
overwhelmingly passed a broad drug treatment and prevention bill, the 
largest of its kind since a law in 2008 that mandated insurance 
coverage for addiction treatment.

"This is big and significant," said Marvin Ventrell, the executive 
director of the National Association of Addiction Treatment 
Providers. "It had legs and interest because of the opioid crisis 
that has hit Middle America."

The bill, which passed 94 to 1, is a boon for Republican senators in 
swing states, which have been hit particularly hard by the drug 
crisis. Senators Rob Portman of Ohio and Kelly Ayotte of New 
Hampshire, both Republicans, spent weeks promoting the measure on the 
floor after seeing opioid-related crime and addiction soar in their states.

The measure authorizes money for various treatment and prevention 
programs for a broad spectrum of addicts, including those in jail. It 
also strengthens prescription drug monitoring programs to help states 
and expands the availability of the drug naloxone, which helps 
reverse overdoses, to law enforcement agencies.

It also increases disposal sites for prescription medications that 
are often abused by teenagers and others. "This is a strong signal 
that the United States Congress now gets this issue," Mr. Portman 
said in a news conference after the vote.

The bill was threatened by Democrats who were angered that 
Republicans turned away an accompanying measure to provide $600 
million in extra funding to pay for some of the programs that the 
bill authorizes.

"What good are additional programs if they aren't adequately funded?" 
asked Senator Bob Casey, Democrat of Pennsylvania. "We can't ask 
medical professionals to do more to treat addiction if they don't 
have the resources." (Mr. Portman and Ms. Ayotte were among five 
Republicans to vote for the extra funding measure.)

But in the end, the bill was considered too urgent to dismiss over a 
funding fight.

While meaningful bipartisan legislation in the Senate is about as 
rare as a spoon-billed sandpiper these days, Republicans and 
Democrats have found common ground over the last year on criminal 
justice and mental health issues.

The epidemic "is probably one of the most pressing public health 
issues facing American families across the country," said Senator 
Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, one of dozens of senators who 
came to the Senate floor to praise the bill, which was sponsored by 
Mr. Portman and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island.

In contrast, Ms. Murkowski's bipartisan energy bill has been held up 
for weeks by Democrats over a similar funding fight, in that case for 
money to help the city of Flint, Mich., recover from its tainted water crisis.

The drug emergency has become increasingly pervasive, and in places 
rarely associated with issues like opioid addiction. An epidemic of 
abuse of prescription painkillers and heroin, often abused when the 
prescription drugs run out, has swept the United States, with 
overdose deaths quadrupling since the late 1990s.

The fate of the legislation in the House is uncertain. A companion 
bill there does not have strong Republican support, but several 
committees have been working on the issue. Mr. Portman said Thursday 
that he had left voice mail messages and texted a House colleague 
"with the initials Paul Ryan."

While Senate Republicans have come around to accept state and local 
drug treatment programs as acceptable terrain for federal support, 
far more conservative House factions may be harder to sway.

Many of their views may well have been captured by Senator Ben Sasse, 
Republican of Nebraska, the only no vote on the Senate bill. "I'm 
distressed by opioid abuse as a dad and citizen," he said. "Families, 
nonprofits and government at the state and local level can help. I'm 
not convinced fighting addiction, as opposed to stopping drug 
traffickers, is best addressed at the federal level."

The House is in recess this week.

"Speaker Ryan is encouraged by the Senate's effort to attack the 
alarming opioid epidemic sweeping the country," said AshLee Strong, a 
spokeswoman for Mr. Ryan. "Several House members have been working 
hard on their own efforts."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drug 
overdose was the leading cause of injury death in 2013 - the most 
recent data available - among Americans 25 to 64, surpassing deaths 
caused by motor vehicle crashes; 71 percent of the overdoses involved 
opioid painkillers.

Some public health experts have bemoaned the lack of federal response 
and argue that the Food and Drug Administration has exacerbated the 
problem by continuing to approve new opioids in a market flooded with them.

The treatment and prevention action has largely been at the state 
level. Some states, like Florida, that have passed such laws have had 
a decline in opiate-related deaths.

"We really haven't seen major legislation in this space for well over 
a decade," said Daniel Raymond, policy director of the Harm Reduction 
Coalition. "It's a big deal because it's bipartisan and because it 
symbolizes this broader shift we are seeing at community level in 
addressing addiction more as a health problem rather than just 
criminal justice problem."

The fragile bipartisan coalition was preserved by keeping the bill 
focused on programs that both sides could support, but the funding 
fight made for a few awkward moments at a bipartisan news conference 
after the bill was passed. "I hope that the Republican leadership 
will honor their statements and commitments" toward fighting the 
epidemic, Mr. Whitehouse said.

Other Democrats vowed to keep fighting for more money, with 
encouragement from the White House. Calling the bill "an important 
first step," Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, added: "But 
it's only the first step in a long race against this epidemic. By 
itself, it won't get us over the finish line."

Sabrina Tavernise contributed reporting from Washington.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom