Grassley Provisions Target Meth, Opioid Abuse in Iowa

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate today passed a sweeping addiction recovery bill aimed at addressing the nation’s growing heroin and opioid addiction epidemic.  The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) also includes a number of provisions crafted by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley to assist in the fight against methamphetamine, which is a significant problem in Iowa.  The bill, which Grassley led through the Judiciary Committee, the full Senate and a conference committee with the House of Representatives, passed the Senate by a vote of 92-2.  

“The rapid rise of drug addiction in our country has taken a profound and devastating toll on communities from coast to coast.  In many parts of the nation, it’s being driven by abuse of prescription opioids and cheap, but deadly heroin.  And in my home state of Iowa, meth continues to destroy families.  This destructive epidemic demands a comprehensive response.  CARA takes a multipronged approach to face drug addiction head-on through increased prevention, education, treatment, recovery and law enforcement efforts.

“From the very start, this bill has been a bipartisan effort to tackle a nonpartisan problem. Getting CARA across the finish line in Congress has meant a lot of hard work and negotiations by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.  President Obama has also acknowledged the significance of the addiction epidemic, so he should swiftly sign CARA into law to give communities the help they need in the fight against addiction,” Grassley said.

Last year, Grassley convened a Judiciary Committee field hearing in Des Moines, Iowa, to examine how best to combat methamphetamine abuse, which has been a persistent problem in some communities across the state and heartland.  In January, Grassley held a hearing on the growing opioid and heroin epidemic sweeping the nation, including some parts of Iowa.  Grassley then worked with a bipartisan group of senators on legislation to address drug addiction.  He led the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act through the Judiciary Committee in February and the full Senate in March.  Grassley then led a Senate delegation in a bicameral conference committee to merge CARA with a package of bills that passed in the House of Representatives. The following day, the House passed the final CARA conference report by a vote of 407-5.

The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act authorizes nearly $900 million over five years to enhance prevention, education treatment, recovery and law enforcement efforts.  The current Senate appropriations bills are poised to more than double funding for this epidemic since Republicans took control of the Senate. As funding for this crisis continues to rise, CARA will serve as the blueprint for how to attack the scourge of addiction.  The bill is supported by more than 250 addiction, recovery and law enforcement organizations, including a dozen in Iowa.

Grassley worked to include several provisions to meet the unique needs of communities like many in Iowa in their battle against opioid and meth addiction. Specifically, Grassley worked to reserve a fixed portion of resources to improve first responders’ access to overdose-reversal medication in rural areas, like much of Iowa, where emergency services can be limited.  Grassley also secured eligibility for new grants created by the bill for areas like Iowa that are suffering from local drug crises related to methamphetamine, in addition to opioids.   CARA also includes Grassley’s Kingpin Designation Improvement Act, which boosts law enforcement’s ability to freeze the assets of international drug cartels that are often the source of heroin and meth in the United States. 

CARA must now be signed by the president before becoming law.

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