Senator Portman Welcomes Presidential Leadership to Address Opioid Epidemic

WASHINGTON, D.C. – 3/29/17 –  U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) issued the following statement on President Trump’s new commission to address the ongoing heroin and prescription drug epidemic:

“I welcome the White House’s engagement and interest in helping to combat the heroin and prescription drug epidemic.  Over the last year, Congress has taken a leadership role in addressing this crisis, enacting my Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act and providing $1 billion in new funding for treatment through the CURES law.  I am working closely with the administration to ensure that CARA is implemented properly and quickly, and I’m hopeful the full law will be up and running soon. I was pleased that the president endorsed the STOP Act last year, and I hope the White House calls on the Congress to pass this common-sense bill to keep synthetic drugs from being shipped into our local communities.  Presidential leadership is necessary for our country to help reverse the tide of addiction, and I will continue to work with the administration and lead the bipartisan effort in Congress to fight this epidemic.”

NOTE: Portman has led efforts to address this epidemic in the U.S. Senate.  His bipartisan Comprehensive Addiction & Recovery Act (CARA), signed into law last year by President Obama authorizes $181 million annually for evidenced-based programs aimed at strengthening prevention, treatment, and recovery services.  Portman was also instrumental in securing $1 billion in new funding for state grants to fight opioid abuse in the new 21st Century Cures initiative. This year he introduced the Synthetics Trafficking & Overdose Prevention (STOP) Act, bipartisan legislation to help stop synthetic drugs like fentanyl and carfentanil from being shipped to drug traffickers here in the United States.

President Trump endorsed the STOP Act last year, saying “We will close the shipping loopholes that China and others are exploiting to send dangerous drugs across our borders in the hands of our own postal service.  These traffickers use loopholes in the Postal Service to mail fentanyl and other drugs to users and dealers in the U.S.  A Trump administration will crack down on this abuse, and give law enforcement the tools they need to accomplish this mission.”