Much of the funding was made available through Klobuchar’s Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA); $6 million will be awarded to the Minnesota Department of Human Services to expand access to medication-assisted treatment and nearly $250,000 will go to the White Earth Band to help emergency response to drug overdoses 

Klobuchar has long led local and national efforts to combat the prescription opioid and heroin epidemic; Drug overdose deaths in Minnesota continued a decade-long trend of growth in 2016, climbing to 637 deaths in the last year

MINNEAPOLIS – Today U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar announced that the state of Minnesota will receive major federal funding – much of which was made available through Klobuchar’s Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) – aimed at combating the opioid crisis. The Minnesota Department of Human Services will be awarded $6 million to expand access to medication-assisted treatment and nearly $250,000 will go to the White Earth Band to respond to drug overdoses.

“Doubling down on efforts to combat the opioid crisis in our state is as critical as it has ever been,” said Klobuchar. “Earlier this month the Minnesota Department of Health reported that drug overdoses claimed the lives of at least 637 people in our state. The resources made available through this funding will mean more families can find the help they need and more first responders will have the support they need to save lives. I will continue working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to build on these efforts and expand access to treatment and recovery services.”

Earlier this month, the Minnesota Department of Health released a report showing that drug overdose deaths in the state of Minnesota continued a decade-long trend of growth in 2016, climbing to 637 deaths in the last year. Roughly 60 percent of the 637 drug overdose deaths were related to opioid use.

As a former Hennepin County Attorney, Klobuchar has long led local and national efforts to curb drug abuse and help people overcome addiction. Klobuchar was one of four senators, along with Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Rob Portman (R-OH), and Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), to lead the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA). This bipartisan bill, which was signed into law in July 2016, encourages states and local communities to pursue a full array of proven strategies in the fight against opioid addiction. At the end of 2016, $1 billion was made available by Congress to fund the national effort. To build on the monumental first step of CARA, Klobuchar introduced the Prescription Drug Monitoring Act, which would require the use of prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) in all states that receive certain federal funding to combat opioid abuse and also requires states to make their PDMP data available to other states.

Earlier this year, she and ten other senators introduced the Budgeting for Opioid Addiction Treatment (LifeBOAT) Act, which would establish a reliable funding stream to provide and expand access to substance abuse treatment. She and a bipartisan group of senators also introduced the Synthetic Abuse and Labeling of Toxic Substances (SALTS) Act and the Synthetics Trafficking & Overdose Prevention (STOP) Act. The SALTS Act would make it easier to prosecute the sale of “analogue” drugs, which are synthetic substances that are substantially similar to illegal drugs. The STOP Act would help close a loophole in the U.S. postal system to stop dangerous synthetic drugs like fentanyl and carfentanil from being shipped through our borders to drug traffickers in the U.S.

In September 2014, the DEA implemented Klobuchar’s bipartisan Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act. Under the legislation, consumers are provided with more safe and responsible ways to dispose of unused prescription medications and controlled substances.

###