Iowa Congressman Dave Loebsack announced today that he will be hosting a community roundtable in Clinton on Monday, February 19th, to address our nation’s ongoing opioid epidemic. (Read more for the rest of the official statement)At the roundtable, Loebsack will bring together medical officials, law enforcement, treatment and prevention specialists, school and community leaders, along with those who have been impacted by the epidemic. Loebsack and the local stakeholders will discuss what can and needs to be done to fight this sweeping epidemic.
Clinton Community Roundtable on the Opioid Epidemic
2:00pm
Mercy Medical Center North Campus
1410 N 4th Street
Conference Room A
Late last year, Loebsack led the introduced of the Combating the Opioid Epidemic Act, which provides funding for the prevention, detection, surveillance and treatment of opioid abuse.
Specifically, the Combatting the Opioid Epidemic Act would:
- Authorize and appropriate $4,474,800,000 each fiscal year for substance abuse programs for the individual states through 2027. This funding would be added to the Account for the State Response to the Opioid Abuse Crisis created through the 21st Century Cures Act, which passed with strong bipartisan support last Congress.
- Expand the use of funding already allowed under the 21st Century Cures Act. Under this legislation, states would be able to use this money for detection, surveillance, and treatment of co-occurring infections, as well as for surveillance, data collection and reporting on the number of opioid overdose deaths.
- Support research on addiction and pain related to substance abuse, and authorizes and appropriates $50,400,000 for each of fiscal years 2018 through 2022. Under the bill, the National Institutes of Health would be responsible for distributing this money.
