Combatting the Drug Crisis through Treatment, Enforcement and Education

Statement

Our communities and families throughout America have been severely impacted by the rise of prescription drug abuse and the growing heroin crisis, especially here in Suffolk County; the most adversely impacted county in New York State. Since taking office in January 2015, I have been working in the House of Representatives as a member of the Bipartisan Task Force to Combat the Heroin Epidemic, to address this looming crisis, which if left unchecked, could have untold consequences for future generations.

Working closely with our local community, and hosting multiple summits and roundtable discussions with local elected officials, law enforcement, health professionals, community groups, parents, concerned residents and those in recovery, we have discussed various ways that we can combat this pandemic through a three-pronged approach that focuses on treatment, enforcement, and education. We have also discussed the importance of supplying the local community with Naloxone, or Narcan, a lifesaving medication that is safe and easy to administer, and has been proven to reverse an overdose within minutes.

In Congress, I have been pushing to advance legislation to help provide our community with the resources we need, which includes higher supplies of Narcan. However, we must be sure that those who are saved by Narcan are immediately provided with the help that they need to fully recover so that they do not just return right away to using again.

One very important piece of legislation that I have dedicated the most amount of my time advocating for passage of is the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery (CARA) Act (S. 524), which was signed into law in July 2016. CARA provides a total of $8.3 billion in funding to help combat the heroin and opioid epidemic. Some provisions of the bill include: $80 million in funding to help prevent and treat addiction on a local level through community-based education, prevention, treatment and recovery programs; $160 million for the expansion of medication-assisted treatment options; and $103 million to establish a community-based competitive grant program to address and treat the problems of heroin and opioid addiction. The bill will also provide funding necessary to expand prescription drug monitoring across the country, and provide funding to supply our local community with higher quantities of Naloxone.

Just one of the additional bills that I have been working to advance in the House is the Stop Overdose Stat (SOS) Act (H.R. 2850), which I cosponsor. The SOS Act would help increase the supply of Narcan by providing an additional $25 million over a 5 year period for production and distribution to make sure that medical professionals and families have it in their possession, and are trained and ready to administer it. The SOS Act also establishes a preventative research task force to research ways to prevent future overdose deaths, which provides a unique, preventative approach to fight against drug abuse.

Equally important is a focus on enforcement to stop the flow of illegal narcotics into our country. Providing our law enforcement entities with the resources they need to target drug kingpins and international narcotraffickers will destabilize global drug rings, keeping drugs out of our country, which is why I supported legislation that passed the House to help law enforcement officials identify and target drug traffickers (H.R. 3380), and allow for easier prosecution of these criminals (H.R. 4985).

There is not one piece of legislation that will completely solve this crisis, but we must do everything in our power, working with all levels of government and our members of the local community, to change direction and successfully combat this epidemic. Together, we can help prevent the tragic loss of life, family and community as a result of addiction through treatment, enforcement, and education.

Congressman Lee Zeldin represents the First Congressional District of New York. The Congressman serves as a member of the Bipartisan Task Force to Combat the Heroin Epidemic in the House of Representatives, which focuses on finding solutions to this crisis, spreading awareness and increasing educational efforts.

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