President Barack Obama signed legislation into law on Friday that was led by U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) to reform how the government addresses addiction and recovery.
The Comprehensive Addiction Recovery Act (CARA) authorizes $181 million in annual discretionary funding for evidence-based prevention, treatment and recovery programs that have already proven successful in communities.
“This is a historic moment in the fight against addiction,” Portman said. “It’s a moment when we came together as a country — Democrats and Republicans alike — behind a common-sense idea: finally treating addiction like the disease that it is. And with the epidemic of opiate addiction taking an American life every 12 minutes, this may be the most urgent issue that we face. These comprehensive reforms will target federal resources to prevention, treatment and recovery programs that have been proven to work best and make the federal government a better partner with families and communities are suffering from the consequences of widespread addiction.”
CARA earned widespread bipartisan approval in the House of Representatives and the Senate. The bill was approved on a 92-2 vote in the Senate and by a 407-5 vote in the House.
“I thank the president for signing this bill and thank his own drug experts within the White House for their support and valuable input in helping to craft this bill, along with many others,” Portman said. “I have long agreed we need more funding and that’s why we have already secured significant funding increases for opioids this year and are on track to more than double funding over two years. We need to continue to fight for more resources to turn the tide of this epidemic and I welcome the White House’s support in that effort.”