Issue Position: Opioids

Issue Position

On average, one Mainer died of a drug overdose every day of 2016. That statistic is horrifying and heartbreaking -- and makes it clearer than ever that our elected officials must do everything in their power to end the opioid epidemic before more families are torn apart.

Curbing this public health crisis is one of Senator King's top priorities, and he has met with physicians, nurses, families affected, law enforcement and those suffering to try to better understand and address this epidemic.

He has advocated for increased funding for treatment, including voting for the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act. Overall Senator King has supported legislation that will dedicate more than $1.3 billion -- in 2017 alone -- to ending the opioid epidemic.
Tragically, our state has one of the worst rates of babies born affected by drugs. That's why Senator King introduced legislation that would recognize more pediatric recovery facilities as Medicaid providers, allowing more families to be able to afford care for their children.
In an effort to prevent addictive painkillers from saturating the market, he successfully pushed the Drug Enforcement Administration to lower drug production quotas.

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