In March, the Senate passed the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) which many believe—especially democrats—lacks the funding necessary to be fully effective. It is worth noting that the House’s ten bills will be combined with CARA. The new legislation covers a number of important areas specific to preventing and treating opioid addiction. Just to get an idea, the new bills voted on would:
- Authorize the creation of an interagency task force that would review, modify and update opioid prescribing practices.
- Require states that receive federal grants for child protective services to enact laws or programs to ensure the protection of babies.
- Give law enforcement more authority for fighting drug trafficking.
- Make it easier for doctors to provide treatment for patients addicted to opioids.
"We need to not only pass these bills, but we need to commit in a bipartisan way that we’re going to provide the necessary funding, and I hope we can do that," said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass. "If we don’t do that, all the speeches that we give this week will amount to empty rhetoric."