By Greg Jordan, Bluefield Daily Telegraph
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Putting a 1 cent fee on every milligram of active opioid in prescription pain pills is the goal of a bill that would fund drug prevention and treatment programs addressing the nation’s drug abuse epidemic and rising numbers of overdose deaths.
U.S. Senators Joe Manchin, D-WV; Mitt Romney, R-UT; Amy Klobuchar, D-MN; Tammy Baldwin, D-WI; Angus King, I-ME; Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH; Maggie Hassan, D-NH; Richard Blumenthal, D-CT; Tina Smith; D-MN; and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI, recently introduced the bipartisan Life Budgeting for Opioid Addiction Treatment (LifeBOAT) Act, which would establish a stewardship fee to provide and expand access to substance use treatment.
In 2020, over 90,000 Americans died from drug related overdoses – the highest year of overdose deaths ever recorded – with over half of those likely involving an opioid or synthetic opioid.
“America is experiencing an epidemic within a pandemic, and drug overdose deaths have been at an all-time high. West Virginia has led the nation in drug overdose deaths for over 10 years, more than doubling the national rates of overdose deaths since 2007,” Manchin stated. “It is past time that funding meets the need for resources, treatment facilities and healthcare providers that help Americans struggling with substance use disorder.” …
