WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito is supporting a bill in the Senate called the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, which aims to combat addiction in a variety of ways.
“Across the country, and really in West Virginia we’ve had such problems with heroin overdoes, opioid abuse, addiction; West Virginia has some of the highest rate of overdoses,” Capito said. “We have children being born to addicted mothers at alarming rates.”
The bill, which is currently being debated with bipartisan support in the Senate, includes expanding prevention and education efforts, expanding Naloxone availability to law enforcement and expanding resources to treat incarcerated individuals.
“It’s really a comprehensive way to get at this heroin, methamphetamine and opioid problem,” Capito said.
Capito said the bill would help fund more ways to combat substance abuse at a local level across the country.
“This will help put money into community-based coalitions, into finding the best youth recovery programs, finding a way to build communities of recovery,” she said. “In other words, fund all of the above solutions that have been put together at a local level.”
Capito expected that the bill would pass the Senate and be moved to the House of Representatives in the coming days.
“It’s moving fairly rapidly because there’s a lot of concern here,” she said. “Our first vote was almost unanimous to want to address this issue. It’s hurting states like West Virginia, New Hampshire and Ohio (have big problems). It’s hitting rural areas at a much greater rate.”
The bill was introduced by U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), along with Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Rob Portman (R-OH), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).