Our community faces a drug epidemic few know about.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 6.5 million Americans abuse prescription drugs.

This prescription drug abuse often leads to addiction to harder drugs like heroin. Together, there has been a 200 percent increase in opioid drug overdose deaths since 2000.

Seventy-eight Americans die every day from an opioid overdose. Every community in America has been affected by this destructive abuse.

Addicts, however, are not the only victims of this epidemic.

Organized crime from drug trafficking infiltrates our communities. Families suffer as they watch loved ones succumb to addiction, and more than 20,000 babies a year are born with complications stemming from opioid drug use during pregnancy.

That’s why this week I worked with my colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives to pass 18 separate pieces of bipartisan legislation to attack from all angles this national epidemic.

To keep these stolen or improperly obtained drugs out of our communities, we passed two bipartisan bills to give law enforcement the tools they need to prosecute drug traffickers.

To help babies born with complications and also help their mothers, we passed legislation creating a pilot program to enhance funding flexibility for substance abuse treatment agencies which care for postpartum women and their children.

For example, residential treatment programs, as authorized by this legislation, can provide a stable environment for mothers to defeat their opioid addiction, while learning the skills needed to be a giving mother.

Our legislative package also includes multiple bills to educate healthcare providers on the best practices when prescribing potentially addictive drugs, as well as prescribing alternative treatments.

Finally, the legislation authorizes $103 million to establish a streamlined, comprehensive opioid abuse grant program, designed to provide states and local governments maximum flexibility to combat the opioid epidemic in the most effective manner for their community. These grant programs are fully paid for by trimming wasteful spending elsewhere, ensuring no additional burden to the taxpayer.

By working together with local governments, nonprofits, faith-based organizations, families, and loved ones – we can work to defeat the scourge of prescription drug addiction in our communities.

THIS WEEK IN WASHINGTON

This week, President Obama’s Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against North Carolina and threatened to withhold federal funding over implementation of House Bill 2 (HB2). That same day, nine Members of the North Carolina Congressional delegation joined me in writing the Department of Education to strongly oppose additional threats to withhold federal education funding, in what would be an unprecedented overreach by the federal government.

Following our letter, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest announced President Obama would not withhold funding while the lawsuit remains pending in the courts. We must continue to reinforce the Separation of Powers, which supports the Constitutional system of checks and balances, the cornerstone of the great American experiment.

U.S. Rep. Robert Pittenger, R-Charlotte, represents North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District, which will include Anson County next year under state redistricting maps. He is chairman of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare, vice chairman of the Financial Services Task Force to Investigate Terrorism Financing and serves on the House Financial Services Committee.

Pittenger
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Robert Pittenger

Contributing Columnist