WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, with the support of U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine), the Senate overwhelmingly passed legislation that will provide for a community-based response to heroin and opioid addiction. Despite voting for the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA), Senator King has cautioned that it does not go far enough in funding treatment, prevention, and enforcement efforts. Last week, the Senate rejected an amendment to CARA, also supported by Senator King, that would have provided $600 million in emergency funding to fight the opioid and heroin epidemic.  

“This bill isn’t perfect, but it’s a significant step in the right direction as we work to tackle the relentless scourge of drug addiction across the country and across Maine. And it proves that we can put partisan differences aside and focus on the needs of the American people,” said Senator King. “But the fight against addiction is far from over, and we must do more to meet this enemy head on. I will continue to do all that I can to make sure Maine’s voice is heard in this critical and ongoing national debate.” 

Senator King is a cosponsor and supporter of the legislation passed today, which incorporates law enforcement, the criminal justice system, the public health system and the recovery support community in its community-based approach to address the drug epidemic. Specifically, the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act 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 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.

Despite his support for the bill, Senator King has also been a vocal proponent of strengthening it – particularly by adding a $600 million emergency funding amendment introduced by Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.). Without the appropriations provided under the Shaheen amendment, the legislation will have to move through the Senate’s appropriations process, consuming vital time as families and communities grapple with this crisis. Following the failed vote on the Shaheen amendment last week, Senator King warned his colleagues on the Senate floor that they were missing an opportunity to meet this challenge head on.

Additionally, Senator King offered several other amendments to strengthen the legislation, including a measure to improve care for babies born with neonatal abstinence syndrome from exposure to opioids during pregnancy, and another that would amend outdated Medicaid policy to expand access to substance abuse treatment. Senator King co-sponsored an amendment authored by Senator Tester (D-Mont.) that would have helped tribal communities better access grant funding through CARA. Those amendments did not receive a vote during this debate, and he will continue to push for those policies in Congress.

Last week, Senator King shared the tragic story of Garrett Brown, a young man from Maine who died of an overdose in November of 2015, during a speech on the Senate floor. Senator King shared Garrett’s story, which had been documented extensively by Bangor Daily News journalist Erin Rhoda, in order to underscore the human toll that heroin and opioid addiction continues to take in Maine and around the country.

Senator King has made tackling the opioid and heroin epidemic one of his top priorities in the Senate. He has held three roundtables – one in Portland, one in Brewer, and one in Bangor – focusing on different aspects of the problem. He has also introduced several pieces of legislation to address it, has questioned top Administration officials about efforts to fight it, and called on the President to pledge more funding towards it, which the President did.

From 2002 to 2013, opioid-related deaths have quadrupled nationally according to data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. According to the Maine Attorney General’s Office, 272 people in the state died of overdoses in 2015. This is a 31 percent increase from 2014, when 208 people died of overdoses – then the worst year on record.

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