VIDEO: Capito Highlights Efforts to Curb Opioid Epidemic in West Virginia

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following the recent passage of landmark legislation to combat the opioid epidemic, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) today released a video highlighting the severity of the drug epidemic in West Virginia and how the Senate is working to address the problem. The Senate overwhelmingly passed the bipartisan Opioid Crisis Response Act last night by a vote of 99 to 1.

Click here or the image above to watch Senator Capito’s video.
Video and audio can be downloaded by clicking here.

BACKGROUND

The Opioid Crisis Response Act is comprehensive, bipartisan legislation Senator Capito co-sponsored that will help address the growing opioid epidemic. It contains the work of more than 70 senators from both sides of the aisle, including numerous provisions based on bills Senator Capito has introduced or led as a co-sponsor, including: 

• The Comprehensive Opioid Recovery Center (CORC) Act, which would establish and expand comprehensive opioid recovery centers for Americans struggling with addiction.

• Changes to the 21st Century Cures Act that will focus federal funds on states that have been hardest hit by the opioid crisis.

• The Opioid Addiction Recovery Fraud Prevention Act of 2018, which would hold fraudulent substance abuse treatment programs and recovery centers accountable.

• The Caring Recovery for Infants and Babies (CRIB) Act, which clarifies states’ ability under Medicaid to provide care for infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome in residential pediatric recovery centers like Lily’s Place in Huntington.

• The Synthetics Trafficking and Overdose Prevention (STOP) Act, which will help prevent the shipment of synthetic opioids like fentanyl into the United States through the international mail system by imposing tough new requirements on the U.S. Postal Service and Customs and Border Protection. 

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