White House, Pennsylvania senator urge Congress to pass emergency anti-opioid funding

Star of life (medical symbol created by the National Highway Safety Administration — public domain) by Jennifer Shutt, Georgia Recorder [This article first appeared in the Georgia Recorder, republished with permission] November 1, 2023 WASHINGTON — The Biden administration’s top drug policy expert and Pennsylvania Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey on Wednesday pressed Congress to approve billions in emergency funding to address opioid addiction. “We still have a ways to go to get it through the heads of people here in Washington about how important it is to vote for the funding — not to give speeches and blow a lot of hot air, but to vote for the damn money,” Casey said on a call with reporters. The Biden administration last month asked Congress to provide billions in additional spending on domestic issues, including $1.55 billion for State Opioid Response grants that would go towards providing treatment, harm reduction and recovery for opioid addiction. The program is already in existence and would be expanded. A separate national security supplemental spending request, also sent to Congress last month, would bolster funding for the Department of Homeland Security which the administration says would help reduce the flow of opioids, including fentanyl, into the
Read More