Bipartisan bill would provide incentives and resources to encourage states and local communities to pursue a full array of proven strategies in the fight against addictions 

Bill includes Klobuchar’s provision to combat drug abuse by enhancing prescription drug monitoring programs

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar and a bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation to combat drug addiction.  The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act would provide incentives and resources designed to encourage states and local communities to pursue a full array of proven strategies in the fight against addiction. The bill includes Klobuchar’s provision to combat drug abuse by enhancing prescription drug monitoring programs. Klobuchar introduced the bill with Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Rob Portman (R-OH), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Chris Coons (D-DE) and Mark Kirk (R-IL).

“As a former prosecutor, I know firsthand the devastation drugs can wreak on families in Minnesota and across the country,” Klobuchar said. “Every struggle with addiction is unique, and if we are going to be successful in the fight to prevent abuse, we cannot rely on a one-size-fits-all approach. This bipartisan legislation would encourage communities to draw on a diverse set of proven tools to combat addiction and includes my provision to strengthen prescription drug monitoring programs across the country.”

The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2014 would:

  • 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 law enforcement agencies and other first responders’ access to naloxone, which is used to save lives by reversing overdoses.
  • 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 our children and adolescents.
  • Launch an evidence-based opioid and heroin treatment and interventions program.  While we have medications that can help treat addiction, there is a critical need to get the training and resources necessary to expand treatment best practices throughout the country.
  • Strengthen prescription drug monitoring programs to help states monitor and track prescription drug diversion and to help at-risk individuals access services.

The legislation is supported by the National District Attorneys Association, the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD), Faces and Voices of Recovery, the National Council for Behavioral Health, and the Major County Sheriffs' Association, among others.

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