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Attorney General Mike DeWine
DeWine Urges
Passage of Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2015
(COLUMBUS, Ohio) -- Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced today
that he is urging the leadership of the Committee on the Judiciary for
the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives to pass the Comprehensive
Addiction and Recovery Act of 2015.
Attorney General DeWine and attorneys general from 36 other states plus
the District of Columbia today sent a letter to the leadership of the
committees stressing their support for the legislation, which would
provide states with the necessary tools to more effectively confront
the growing challenge of heroin and opioid abuse and addiction.
“We know that addiction is a treatable disease, but we also know that
many people who need treatment are not receiving it," said Attorney
General DeWine. "While heroin and opioid abuse are a primary
concern here in Ohio and across the county, we must move beyond simple
responses to drug trends and emerging threats and concentrate on
improving addiction treatment and recovery nationwide,” said Attorney
General DeWine.
The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2015 is authored by
U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio).
“I appreciate the support of Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine for the
Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2015. In order to
help Americans struggling with drug addiction, we must get beyond a
top-down, one-size-fits-all approach,” said Portman. “To prevent drug
abuse and better help the tens of thousands of Ohioans struggling with
addiction, we need a comprehensive strategy that starts from the bottom
up. This legislation builds on proven methods to enable law enforcement
to respond to this heroin epidemic and supports long-term recovery by
connecting prevention and education efforts with treatment programs.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drug
overdoses now surpass automobile accidents as the leading cause of
injury-related death for Americans between the ages of 25 and 64.
More than 100 Americans die as a result of an overdose in this country
every day – more than half of them caused by prescription drugs or
heroin.
The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2015 will:
Expand prevention and educational efforts –
particularly aimed at teens, parents and other caretakers, and aging
populations – to prevent the abuse of opioids and heroin and to promote
treatment and recovery;
Expand the availability of naloxone to law
enforcement agencies and other first responders to help in the reversal
of overdoses to save lives;
Expand resources to identify and treat incarcerated
individuals suffering from addiction disorders promptly by
collaborating with criminal justice stakeholders and by providing
evidence-based treatment;
Expand disposal sites for unwanted prescription
medications to keep them out of the hands of children and adolescents;
Launch an evidence-based opioid and heroin treatment
and intervention program to assist in treatment and recovery throughout
the country; and
Strengthen prescription drug monitoring programs to
help states monitor and track prescription drug diversion and to help
at-risk individuals access services.
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