Portman Meets with Women in Recovery in Athens

Press Release

On Saturday, Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio) was in Athens, Ohio to discuss the heroin and prescription drug abuse problem that is hurting so many Ohio families, and to meet with local women who are recovering from addiction. Portman's bipartisan Comprehensive Addiction & Recovery Act, designed to ensure that federal resources are devoted to evidence-based education, treatment and recovery programs that work, is supported by and was drafted with the input of experts, those who deal with the problem of addiction every day, and those who are in recovery.

Excerpts from an Athens News story on his visit can be found below and the full story can be read here.

"Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, Republican from Terrace Park, was in Athens Saturday to discuss the problem -- and a bill aimed at reversing the trend -- with local women who are themselves recovering from substance addiction.

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""In the face of an epidemic that is gripping our state, I was pleased to see firsthand all of the terrific work being done at the recovery facility in Athens, and to meet with women in recovery as well,' Portman said following the meeting and tour of the facility, which is a converted house on Bassett Road southeast of Athens. "We must do more for those on the front lines helping people who are suffering from addiction, and our CARA bill is designed to help cities like Athens do just that.'

"Portman and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, are co-authors of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016, which passed the Senate March 10 on a 94-1 vote. The bill authorizes the Attorney General to award grants aimed at reducing heroin and prescription drug abuse, which last year killed more people in the U.S. than traffic accidents did. It awaits House consideration.

""We received strong bipartisan support for the measure when it overwhelming passed the Senate,' Portman said, "and I'm going to keep fighting to ensure that it becomes law.'

"The issue has long been of importance to the senator, who founded the Coalition for a Drug-Free Greater Cincinnati in 1996, an organization aimed at reducing drug abuse among young people."

Last week, Portman delivered remarks about this legislation in Youngstown, stating that it will help reduce the human toll of the heroin epidemic and help local employers. Portman has previously detailed how CARA, which combats the drug epidemic by helping promote education and prevention to stop drug abuse before it begins, promotes treatment alternatives and reverse overdoses, helps veterans, and helps women and babies, as Senator Portman wrote in the Washington Examiner in February.

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