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Democrats introduce $100B bill to combat opioid crisis

By Daniel Uria
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Elijah Cummings introduced legislation pledging $100 billion to combat the opioid crisis. File Photo by Monika Graff/UPI
1 of 2 | U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Elijah Cummings introduced legislation pledging $100 billion to combat the opioid crisis. File Photo by Monika Graff/UPI | License Photo

May 8 (UPI) -- Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Elijah Cummings on Wednesday introduced legislation aimed at combatting the country's opioid crisis.

Warren, a 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful from Massachusetts, and Cummings, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform from Maryland, introduced the bill that would provide state and local governments with $100 billion in federal funding for treatment, research and support for providers.

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"It's time to confront this crisis head on at the federal level and provide critical support for individuals and families struggling with addiction," Warren said.

The legislation known as the Comprehensive Addiction Resources Emergency, or CARE Act, is an updated version of a bill the pair introduced last year seeking to provide state and private efforts to help people recover from addiction to opioids and other substances.

New provisions in the updated version of the bill include strengthened standards for services and a grant program for workers with -- or at risk of developing -- addictions to find employment while in treatment or recovery.

The CARE Act would provide $4 billion to states, territories and tribal governments and $2.7 billion to counties and cities with the highest levels of overdoses. It would also offer $1.7 billion per year for public health surveillance, research and training, $1.1 billion for expanded service delivery and $500 million for increased access to overdose reversal drugs.

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A study published in JAMA Network Open in February found that opioid deaths had quadrupled in the past two decades, centered in Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, Ohio and Massachusetts.

Warren said the legislation received endorsements from more than 200 organizations and nine members of the Massachusetts federal delegation.

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