Responding to the ongoing American struggle with opioids in general and fentanyl in particular, United States Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) joined the Hamilton County Addiction Response Coalition (HC ARC) and other stakeholders in his state to address the larger issue of addiction and overdose.
Last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) determined that more than 100,000 people died of an overdose in a 12-month period nationwide, up from more than 78,000 the year before. Locally, the HC ARC is one group working to tackle opiate addiction and the rise in fentanyl overdoses in Ohio through its Quick Response Teams Expansion & Deflection efforts and federal CARA Comprehensive Opioid Stimulant and Substance Abuse Program funding.
According to the HC ARC’s annual 2021 report, preliminary figures showed that Ohio’s Hamilton County experienced 454 overdose deaths between March 2020 and March 2021, its lowest figure since 2016, while Ohio at large saw 5,300 killed as a result of an overdose. The county’s worst year in the 10 on record was 2017 when overdose deaths reached 570. The state’s deaths continue to rise, and 2021 saw its highest figures – 5,300 dead.
“Drug abuse and overdoses continue to plague not only our community but communities all across our country and have been made worse by the pandemic,” Portman said. “I’m proud our community is working together to tackle this issue. With drug overdoses reaching an all-time high, it is more urgent than ever that Congress do everything in its power to help address this problem. My CARA 3.0 legislation would do just that by providing adequate and sustained resources that appropriately reflect the magnitude of the drug crisis. Given the critical nature of this crisis, it is urgent that Congress move quickly to consider and pass this legislation.”
CARA refers to Comprehensive Addiction & Recovery Act programs. Those evidence-based programs were authorized by Congressional approval in 2016 to focus federal funding on prevention, treatment, recovery, and first responders’ needs. Portman authored that legislation to target the influx of synthetic drugs and expand access to treatment programs, and now, he – together with U.S. Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) – has introduced the CARA 3.0 (S.987) legislation to increase funding authorization levels for the same.
Additionally, as proposed, the bill would tack on certain reforms and new programs to counter the epidemic.