Even when Congress seems to agree, they still struggle to get things done. One of the latest examples is bipartisan legislation advancing in both chambers seeking to address the nation's opioid epidemic — but struggling to find a way to pay for the efforts.
Both the House and Senate have approved bills that expand access to treatment, make overdose reversal drugs more widely available and strengthen state prescription drug monitoring programs, according to a recent article in The Baltimore Sun.
However, the biggest and most significant proposals in federal legislation would likely involve grant programs, meaning new money is needed to achieve the desired affects of the legislation.
Among them, the Senate recently approved a bill to direct the Department of Health and Human Services to issue grants to communities with above-average rates of opioid abuse, aimed at creating new treatment programs, and expand treatment options. For Carroll County, this could mean the potential for federal grant funding for the recently discussed but yet unfunded day reporting program for low-level criminals who could benefit from addiction treatment rather than jail time.
Considering that opioid overdoses have reached epidemic levels nationwide, we think this would qualify for emergency funding.
About 28,000 people died of overdoses in the United States in 2014. Of Carroll County's at least 241 overdoses because of prescription drugs, heroin and other illegal drugs in 2015, at least 30 were fatal and about two-thirds attributable to opioids, according to data from the Carroll County Sheriff's Office.
Democrats have argued for as much as $600 million in emergency money, while Republicans want to hold off negotiating funding until the fall. But even waiting until the fall might not guarantee funding. If recent years are any indication, Congress might seek another stopgap funding bill rather than a comprehensive spending bill, in which case no new money would go toward drug treatment legislation.
Federal lawmakers on both sides seem to agree — for once — that these bills are necessary and worthwhile, so it baffles us that they aren't willing to spend money on them immediately.
As demonstrated in Carroll County, the rest of Maryland and nationwide, opioid abuse and overdose deaths transcend politics. When it comes to paying for ways to treat addiction and save lives, we don't think politics should come into play either.
