Gardner Welcomes $20.8 Million in Opioid and Methamphetamine Response Grants for Colorado

Press Release

U.S. Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO) welcomed the announcement that the state of Colorado will receive $20,842,772 in State Opioid Response (SOR) grants from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to support prevention, treatment, and recovery services for opioid use disorders and to address the rising threat of psychostimulants, like methamphetamine.

"Reports show that Colorado had a record number of overdose deaths in 2019. As our nation continues to grapple with the threat from COVID-19, prevention, treatment, and recovery services to prevent these tragic outcomes are more important than ever," said Senator Gardner. "As I travel across Colorado, I hear frequently about the devastation that opioids and meth cause in our communities, and I will continue fighting for robust, flexible funding to ensure that those communities are able to intervene effectively."

States receive a funding allocation from the SOR every year, and prior to 2020 this grant funding was restricted to opioid response activities, which was a barrier for local governments that requested flexible funding responsive to the situation on the ground. To address the rising threat from psychostimulants, Congress took bipartisan action to eliminate those restrictions with Senator Gardner's support in the fiscal year 2020 government funding bill.

Senator Gardner has made it a priority to fight the rise of substance abuse in Colorado:

In July 2020, Gardner and Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) introduced the Crisis Care Improvement and Suicide Prevention Act to improve state resources for crisis care programs and strategies.
In February 2020, Gardner applauded HHS's work to expand flexibility within opioid grant funding in order to provide resources for states and communities to address the rising threat of methamphetamine and other psychostimulants like cocaine.
In October 2018, the U.S. Senate passed Gardner's amendment to increase funding for the COPS Anti-Methamphetamine Program (CAMP) to $13 million.
In October 2018, Gardner introduced the Suspicious Order Identification Act, bipartisan legislation to leverage order data to prevent drug diversion in real time.
During his annual Colorado Farm Tour, Senator Gardner met with officials in rural areas who expressed their concerns over the rise of meth use in Colorado. Senator Gardner highlighted this on the floor of the U.S. Senate in October 2018.

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