Advocates attended a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing yesterday that covered, in part, the Comprehensive Addiction & Recovery Act (CARA), which would expand addition and prevention treatment.<\/p>\n
The consensus in the room was for more funding and stronger measures to fight opioid addiction, as well as greater access to addiction treatment and stricter rules for painkiller prescribing.<\/p>\n
In 2014, more than 47,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<\/p>\n
Kana Enomoto, Acting Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), said many Americans are not receiving treatment for addiction.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are facing a treatment gap of unacceptable proportions,\u201d she said at the hearing. \u201cAs a nation, we will not stem the rising tide of this public health crisis if only two out of 10 people with an opioid use disorder get the treatment they need.\u201d<\/p>\n