Nation’s addiction specialists deserve recognition, says Joyce

U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH) wants to acknowledge the contributions of America’s addiction professionals in helping to stem the nation’s opioid crisis.

“As a representative from one of the states hit hardest by the opioid crisis, I know how critical it is for our communities to have access to the full range of treatment and recovery services needed to effectively tackle addiction,” Rep. Joyce said.

The congressman on June 3 sponsored the bipartisan House Resolution (H.Res.) 419 with several cosponsors, including U.S. Reps. Bill Johnson (R-OH) and Tim Ryan (D-OH), to recognize addiction specialists’ commitment to delivering evidence-based practice to individuals with substance use disorders through recognized standards of education, training and competencies, according to the congressional record.

“I’m proud to introduce this resolution … to not only raise awareness about all that addiction professionals do to provide life-saving treatment to their patients, but also to help build a workforce that can mitigate the threats addiction continues to pose in our communities,” said Rep. Joyce.

According to the text, H.Res. 419 would recognize that the addiction professional workforce represents more than 100,000 counselors, educators and other addiction-focused health care professionals who specialize in prevention, intervention, treatment, recovery support, and education across a wide array of settings, such as outpatient care centers, mental health and substance use disorder facilities, general medicine and surgical hospitals, psychiatric and substance use disorder hospitals, private practice, clinics, prisons, probation agencies, juvenile detention facilities, halfway houses, and detoxification centers, among others.

Rep. Joyce also on March 5 introduced the bipartisan Comprehensive Opioid Program Extension (COPE) Act of 2019, H.R. 1528, to reauthorize the comprehensive opioid abuse grant program. The measure has seven cosponsors, including U.S. Reps. Ryan, Mike Turner (R-OH), Rodney Davis (R-IL), Tom Cole (R-OK) and Michael McCaul (R-TX).

H.R. 1528 is under consideration by the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, while H.Res. 419 has been referred to the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee for review.