Substance Use-Disorder Prevention That Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. PETERS. Mr. President, our Nation is suffering through a public health crisis. Our Nation, our neighbors, our families--in fact, very few among us can say that we have not been personally impacted by the opioid crisis.

The scope is simply staggering; 116 lives are lost every day to opioid overdose. There are 116 sons, daughters, husbands, wives, siblings, and parents who will never come home again--116 lives ended decades too soon, lost every day.

Substance abuse disorders do not discriminate. We feel this pain in every region of our country--urban and rural areas and red and blue States. We know there is no silver bullet that will end this crisis overnight, but we do know how to fight it together, and that is what we are doing today.

Tonight the Senate will pass the bipartisan Opioid Crisis Response Act, and this body will show a unity of purpose that, frankly, I wish we could show more often. As this important bipartisan legislation came together, I worked closely with my colleague Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia to make sure that our Nation's youth were not left behind.

We know young adults are more than twice as likely to misuse prescription opioid pain relievers as compared to adults. One in five high school seniors knows where they can easily get heroin, and the problem continues to escalate. In Michigan, the rate of opioid overdose deaths among youth under 25 has doubled since 2012. These are empty seats at the dinner table, in classrooms, and in workplaces.

When tackling a problem this large, we need to follow the data and invest in what works, especially for adolescents and young adults. Health experts, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, recommend medication-assisted treatment, or MAT, as the gold standard for opioid addiction treatment. While we need to continue investing in research, completed studies have shown that youth treated with MAT are more likely to reduce opioid misuse, injection drug use, continue their medical care, and achieve long-term sobriety.

The research we have on using medication-assisted treatment to treat adults is overwhelmingly positive and shows this course of treatment to be safe and effective, especially in comparison to the life-threatening risks faced by patients who go untreated. Research shows that medication-assisted treatment has the power to cut the mortality rate of opioid-addicted patients in half, if not more.

France instituted a strong MAT strategy in response to a heroin epidemic in the 1990s. The death rate due to overdoses there decreased by nearly 80 percent over the course of just 4 years.

Substance abuse disorders are not a personal or a moral failure; they are a public health crisis brought on by chemical dependency. We are fortunate that our doctors and researchers have developed medication that can help end dependency and save lives, and we must get it to patients who need it the most. It is troubling that many Americans whose lives could be saved do not have enough access to these medication-assisted treatments, and it is devastating that American youth have hardly any access at all.

Currently, only about 1 in 12 youth who need treatment for an opioid addiction actually receives it. A 2017 study found that one in four adults in treatment for heroin received medication-assisted treatment. While this sounds low, for adolescents the rate is less than 1 in 40. Even for those who are fortunate enough to be in active treatment, MAT is not being used widely.

Similarly, only one in eight adults in treatment for prescription opioids receives medication-assisted treatment. For adolescents, it is 1 out of every 250. That is why the Peters-Capito provisions of the Opioid Crisis Response Act are actually crucial. They will support the identification and development of best practices for treating opioid addiction among youth and point to MAT as a specific strategy.

In addition, Senator Capito and I successfully added a related amendment to the appropriations bill that funds the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It recently passed the Senate. The amendment will require the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to submit a report to Congress on what steps it takes to support MAT. The agency specifically will also identify barriers they must overcome to get medication-assisted treatment to eligible youth.

Young Americans coping with substance use disorders deserve every opportunity to recover, to hold onto their future aspirations, and to lead stable and fulfilling lives. We must continue working together at every level of government as we combat this opioid crisis with scientifically proven strategies, including for some of the youngest lives at risk.

An important step in this response is getting these provisions across the finish line. I urge my colleagues to act quickly to get this legislation to the President's desk to be signed into law. I recognize these provisions are just a start, but we are losing 116 lives every day. We need to save as many as we can, as soon as we can.

Thank you.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source