Latest News
Guthrie Helps Introduce Bill to Support Substance Use Recovery Resources
Washington,
March 30, 2022
|
S.K. Bowen
(202-225-3501)
Tags:
Health Care
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), who is the Republican Leader of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Health Subcommittee, helped introduce the Substance Use Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Services Block Grant Act of 2022. This bipartisan bill reauthorizes a key grant program that provides targeted resources to local entities focused on delivering treatment and recovery services to people with substance use disorders. Guthrie is the lead Republican on this bill, which was introduced by Representative Paul D. Tonko (NY-20). On Tuesday, April 5, this bill will be discussed during the Health Subcommittee’s legislative hearing focused on promoting greater access to behavioral health care and substance use disorder services. “While statistics show the substance use disorder crisis is getting worse, nothing speaks louder than hearing firsthand from Kentuckians and their families and friends about the devastating impact that substance use disorders can have. I’m proud to be the lead Republican spearheading these efforts to provide support for treatment and recovery services and working to close gaps in care. I will continue to advocate for these critical resources to help those in recovery, while also pushing to get illicit and deadly drugs, like fentanyl, off our streets,” said Guthrie. Overdose deaths in Kentucky increased by 49% between 2019 and 2020, according to the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy 2020 Overdose Fatality Report. More than 70% of overdose deaths in 2020 in the Commonwealth involved fentanyl. From October 2020 to October 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that more than 105,000 Americans died from a drug overdose. Guthrie has a long history of supporting treatment and recovery services. In 2018, his Comprehensive Opioid Recovery Centers Act was signed into law to create comprehensive treatment facilities to help people with opioid use disorder. Guthrie is also an original cosponsor of the HALT Fentanyl Act to permanently schedule fentanyl-related substances, which are currently temporarily scheduled until December 31, 2022, as a Schedule I controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Background on Substance Use Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Services Block Grant Act of 2022:
### |