Senate passes sweeping legislation to combat opioid epidemic
Lawmakers in both chambers have responded public pressure to find solutions to a deadly crisis that has affected every state in the nation.
WASHINGTON — The Senate on Monday overwhelming approved a sweeping legislative package of bills aimed at combating the nation’s deadly opioid epidemic.
The bipartisan measure passed 99-1. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, was the only senator to vote against it.
Similar to the House package passed in June, the Senate’s Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018 (OCRA) directs funding to federal agencies to establish or expand programs dealing with prevention, treatment and recovery.
Highlights from the 70 bills in the package include funding that requires the Food and Drug Administration to dole out prescription opioid pills in smaller quantities and money that offers an incentive to the National Institutes of Health to prioritize the development of non-addictive painkillers, two solutions medical experts believe could help decrease opioid addiction in the long run.
The package also includes Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman’s Synthetics Trafficking and Overdose Prevention Act “STOP” Act, a bill endorsed by President Donald Trump because it establishes parameters to crack down on shipments of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, from entering the U.S.
Currently, the U.S. Postal Service is the only transportation carrier that does not collect electronic information on overseas cargo, which makes it harder for Customs and Border Protection agents to screen packages for drugs.
The Senate package comes months after the House passed their 58-bill opioid package, a response to the pressure lawmakers have felt to find solutions for the deadly crisis that has affected every state in the country.
Overdose deaths killed an estimated 72,000 Americans in 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In comparison, over 40,000 Americans died that same year in car accidents, while 12,000 died from gun violence.
The Senate vote on Monday also offers a success for vulnerable Democrats and Republicans to point to during the final weeks leading up to November’s midterm election. Some of these lawmakers have seen ads in their states pressuring them to support opioid legislation.
In an effort to secure a massive bipartisan legislative win before year’s end, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., spent a majority of the summer leading an effort to hammer together dozens of bills passed by five Senate committees this year.
Three sources familiar with the process tell NBC News the Senate and House have already started to iron out minor differences in their legislative packages, including parameters for opioid addicts to access Medicaid-backed mental health facilities. Currently, the Senate version also reauthorizes $500 million per year in opioid grant extensions for the next three years, includes provisions for doctors to understand how to treat young addicts. It also reauthorizes the White House’s ability to oversee narcotic-related issues among federal agencies.
Once a compromised bill is worked out, each chamber will have to pass the bill before sending the final measure to the president for his signature.
Something that all the members – except one (Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah) – can agree upon… talk about your bipartisan bill… The House passed this bill in June and now a vote of 99-1 in the Senate it is going to Pres Trump to be signed into law. It only took 70 DIFFERENT BILLS to address the singular opiate crisis. Another complex solution to a potentially very simple problem … provided by our Congress..
In Nov, 435 members of Congress and 33 Senators are up for election in Nov … that means that 87% of Congress is up to the voters if they go back to be a member of Congress starting in Jan 2019.
This Congress is not going to help the chronic pain community… does it really make any difference if they were all tossed out of office and a whole bunch of novices takes over Congress in Jan 2019 ?
They have discounted your pain… they have encouraged your TORTURE… they have ignored the TRUTH and FACTS… they have DISCARDED your comments, Dozens or HUNDREDS of petitions have been discarded… Your reality is not their reality… Do they deserve YOUR VOTE ?
Filed under: General Problems
Anyone surprised? I’m sure not. facts have nothing to do with what these venal vile evil jerks are doing.
Can I please ask how this is legal..BECAUSE IT IS SO INHUMANE AND ANIMALS ARE TREATED BETTER..you know I have rethought my thoughts and decided to give it a little time figuring somebody would eventually pain wise understand it..either live it themselves or a close family member..but as I just read.im telling myself it can no way be true.well this last week..i HAVE been in the most severe pain that I have ever had..and I can’t really walk.on top of it i have a diebetic wound that is burning 24/7..and can not touch it..( light your leg on fire with lighting fluid and light a match..let it sit there and burn and sizzle..then u will feel what I feel). I have litterly cried the last month of my life..REALLY…i have figured out how I’m going to do it..it won’t take long..IM DONE PLAYING YOUR GAME..JUST REMEMBER THE ADDICTS WILL ALWAYS GET THEIR FIX..SO THEY ARE LAUGHING AT YOU..YOU CAN’T HURT THEM..Haha..i hope MY FAMILY SUES THE HE’LL OUT OF EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU THAT VOTE FOR THIS BULLSHIT..KARMAS A BITCH..WHEN U ARE BURNING TO DEATH..DONT ASK FOR ANY PAIN MEDICINE..ILL BE RESTING IN PEACE.
Jill, I’m afraid it’s more than “the government doesn’t care about the people,” itsi that the government is actually evil in it’s desire for us to commit suicide because it can’t meet its UNFUNDED LIABILITIES and the elites desire to depopulate the planet!
We live in an evil world and one of our founding fathers said our Constitution would only work in a moral society. Does our current society look or act moral in any way, shape or form? The Bible says Satan is the god of this world. A godless society will always destroy the most vulnerable amongst them (the sick, the weak and the poor) I.e. the pain community.
You are correct in telling us to fight the fight, run the race, endure and overcome.
Eventually, when people continue to die.. as we know they will…. since we KNOW Dr.’s and pain patients are not the problem… maybe they will have raped and pillaged enough money into their pockets they maybe, will have to admit punishing us did not work. In truth we will suffer, and we will die from stroke and heart failure and suicide… not so much OD’s as it is the unregulated illegal drugs that are the problem. If you ever doubted they ( politicians / government) DOSENT CARE about the people… here it is. Changes can be made. You must still fight. Be in this world but not of this world. Vote them out. We must not grow silent.