This week, two members of the Florida delegation--Republican U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan and Democrat U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy--unveiled a proposal to tackle the nation’s opioid problem.
Buchanan brought the “Opioid Emergency Response Act” out on Tuesday with Murphy as a cosponsor.
The bill looks to cut down on opioid addiction by incentivizing ERs to use non-opioids to reduce pain; encourages the National Institutes of Health to continue to research opioids and alternatives to them; send federal grants to states to improve treatment and recovery; expand recovery and mental health treatment for Medicare enrollees; ramp up U.S. Postal Service screenings to catch fentanyl and carfentanil shipments; add 13 synthetic drugs to the Controlled Substances Act and outlaw 13 synthetic drugs that have been identified by the Drug Enforcement Administration; and make the VA study connections between opioids and veteran suicides.
The two members of the Florida delegation showcased their proposal on Thursday.
“Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of death among Americans under 50,” said Buchanan. “That statistic is shocking, unacceptable and tells me we need to do much more to address this epidemic. Drugs are destroying lives and families. This sweeping bipartisan bill builds upon efforts in Congress to establish much-needed reforms and invest significant resources to most-effectively respond to the current crisis.”
“Our nation, including many communities in central Florida, is in the midst of an opioid epidemic, and we must act swiftly and decisively to prevent the crisis from destroying more lives and tearing more communities apart,” said Murphy. “I’m proud to work with Congressman Buchanan to propose bipartisan solutions that will help prevent and treat opioid addiction and crack down on the criminals who profit from the pain and death of others.”
On Monday, Buchanan unveiled the bill at a media event in Southwest Florida.
“Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of death among Americans under 50,” Buchanan said before pointing to life expectancy going down for three straight years, something that hasn’t happened in a century. “Those statistics are shocking, unacceptable and tell me we need to do much more to address this epidemic. Drugs are destroying lives and families not only in our backyard here in Southwest Florida but everywhere throughout the country.”
The bill has a host of stops including going before the U.S. House Budget, Energy and Commerce, Judiciary, Oversight and Government Reform, Veterans Affairs and the Ways and Means Committees.
Currently, more than 60,000 Americans die each year and more than 175 die each day from opioid overdoses. In 2016, there were more than 5,300 opioid related deaths in Florida, an increase of 36 percent from 2015.
