Legislation creating national plan to prevent methamphetamine addiction, overdose signed into law

Legislation introduced to create a national plan to combat the growth of the methamphetamine addiction and overdose crisis was recently signed into law by President Joe Biden.

The Methamphetamine Response Act requires the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to create and deploy a national strategy to address the rising danger of meth addiction and overdose.

“Once known as the meth capital of the United States, San Diego has a long history in working to combat methamphetamine production and addiction,” said U.S. Reps. Scott Peters (D-CA) and John Curtis (R-UT), who introduced the bill in the House. “Law enforcement officials still refer to our region as ‘ground zero’ for the nation’s meth problem, and a surge in the amount of the drug smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border in recent years has caused overdose cases to skyrocket,” As meth-related deaths continue to rise with each passing year, we must recognize meth as an emerging threat nationwide.”

U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced the bill in the Senate, declaring methamphetamine an emerging drug threat.

“I thank President Biden for signing this important legislation into law,” Feinstein said. “Methamphetamine abuse has soared in recent years, with the NIH estimating that meth overdose deaths nearly tripled between 2015 and 2019. Now that our bill has become law, the Office of National Drug Control Policy will develop and implement a plan specifically targeting the rising use of methamphetamine. We can and must do more to prevent these senseless overdose deaths.”

Measure provisions include the ONDCP assessing the methamphetamine threat, short- and long-term goals, performance measures about the plan’s goals, and funding needed to implement the plan.