Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2015
Floor Speech
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Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I also want to take a few moments today to discuss the devastation drugs are bringing to too many families and communities across our Nation and also to congratulate the Presiding Officer for his great work on this issue. The bill before us today is a collaborative effort of his and Senators Ayotte, Toomey, and others who have worked very hard to address what has become an epidemic across our country. It is particularly hitting States hard, it is hitting communities hard and families hard, and it needs to be dealt with. The destructive effects of illegal drug use have been well documented, and anything we say about the problem is likely to have been said many times before, but it is still worth saying because we cannot afford to forget what is at stake in this effort.
In my home State of South Dakota, methamphetamine use has hit our Indian reservations very hard over the past few years. Numerous individuals have become trapped in a cycle of meth abuse, their plans and dreams for their futures erased as their world shrinks to nothing more than their next dose. Of course, drug abuse doesn't just affect the individual using drugs; it ripples out into families and communities. Since meth abuse spiked on our reservations, there has been a significant increase in the number of babies born addicted to meth, and that is about as heartbreaking as it gets, Mr. President--a newborn baby screaming in agony as her body suffers withdrawal.
The meth epidemic on our reservations has also caused a significant increase in the number of meth-related crimes, including sexual assaults, domestic violence, child neglect, car accidents, and gang violence.
The meth epidemic has worsened the housing shortage facing South Dakota tribes because meth has contaminated a number of homes across our reservations. Cleaning up a house that has tested positive for meth costs thousands of dollars.
Several South Dakota tribes have seen so much devastation from meth abuse that they have declared a State of public emergency to gain access to additional government resources to fight the problem.
Today we are considering legislation to address another drug epidemic that has caused similar devastation--the abuse of prescription painkillers and heroin.
Since 1999, drug overdose deaths from prescription opioids, such as oxycodone and hydrocodone, have quadrupled. Forty-four Americans die every single day after overdosing on prescription opioid painkillers, and the numbers on heroin abuse are similarly disturbing. Heroin abuse in the United States nearly doubled between 2002 and 2013, while overdose deaths related to heroin nearly quadrupled. Between 2013 and 2014 alone, heroin use in the United States increased nearly 35 percent. Behind those numbers are thousands of broken families, suffering children, and devastated communities.
Any response to a problem as deep and complex as drug abuse has to approach the problem from a number of different angles. It has to address education and prevention. It has to target the drug supply by going after those who trade in and produce drugs. And it has to ensure that individuals trying to escape the cycle of addiction have access to the resources they need to overcome their dependence. The bill before the Senate today, the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, targets all these priorities. A substantial part of the bill is focused on funding programs that provide treatment and support for individuals trying to escape painkiller or heroin dependence. The bill also provides grants for education and prevention and for local communities' anti-drug efforts.
An important section of the bill focuses on developing best practices for prescribing pain medication. Right now, prescription painkillers are heavily prescribed in the United States. In fact, the United States consumes more opioids than any other country in the world. Our country accounts for almost 100 percent of hydrocodone used globally and 81 percent of oxycodone use. In 2012 doctors prescribed enough prescription opioids to give every adult in the United States a month's supply. Let me repeat that. In 2012 doctors prescribed enough prescription opioids to give every adult in the United States a month's supply.
It goes without saying that prescription painkillers can be a key part of medical treatment, but it is essential that we make sure these potentially addictive drugs are being carefully prescribed and that they are only being prescribed when they are really needed. Reviewing and updating prescribing practices will help us prevent attempts to use these drugs inappropriately.
One of the most important parts of preventing drug abuse is going after the people who prey upon the vulnerabilities of their fellow man by engaging in the drug trade. One significant reason for the recent spike in heroin abuse is the sharp increase in supply of affordable heroin here in the United States over the past several years. This increase has been driven by a major surge in heroin production in Mexico. Between 2013 and 2014 heroin production in Mexico increased a staggering 62 percent--62 percent, in 1 year. A large part of that production increase has ended up here in the United States. Any successful strategy to combat the heroin epidemic in the United States has to include efforts to check the flow of heroin coming across our borders. The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act addresses this priority by authorizing grants to State law enforcement agencies to investigate the illegal trafficking and distribution of heroin and prescription painkillers, and Republicans will continue to look for ways to support Federal, State, and local law enforcement as they seek to stem the flow of drugs into our communities.
The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act is an important bill. It is supported by Senators of both parties and by a number of law enforcement and drug treatment associations. It takes the kind of comprehensive approach we need to address the abuse of heroin and prescription painkillers, but our efforts are not limited to this bill.
Last year we passed the Protecting Our Infants Act to help prevent and treat prescription painkiller abuse in pregnant women and provide care for newborns who suffer as a result of their mothers' abuse of opioids. We also increased funding for efforts to combat painkiller abuse and provided grants to States to help them prevent and treat drug abuse. As chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, I worked with my colleagues last year to provide new resources to the Coast Guard, the leading Federal agency for combating the drug trade on the high seas. The Senate Finance Committee recently held a hearing on the Stopping Medication Abuse and Protecting Seniors Act, which establishes a Medicare Program to prevent painkiller abuse.
Too many lives across our country have been wrecked by drug abuse, too many children have lost a mother or a father to addiction, and too many communities are bleeding from the violence and brokenness that accompany the drug epidemic in this country.
Republicans remain committed to doing everything we can to support those fighting drug abuse, whether they serve in law enforcement agencies, emergency rooms or classrooms. We are committed to reaching a day when fewer lives are destroyed by the scourge of drugs.
The legislation before us today--which Senators Portman, Ayotte, Toomey, and others have been involved with--is an important step forward in helping to address something that has become a crisis in this country and which is impacting, in a harmful and negative way, way too many families and way too many individuals and ruining the hopes and aspirations of too many young people and children across the country.
Let's pass this legislation, let's get the House to pass a similar piece of legislation, and let's get something on the President's desk that can be signed into law that will bring the relief that is needed.
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