What Hillary Clinton wants to do about drug addiction
Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton outlined her five-point plan to attack the issue of drug addiction in a New Hampshire Union Leader op-ed Wednesday.
Clinton, who is seeking the Democratic nomination, outlined how she would achieve some of these plans, including boosting funding for the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant by 25 percent, and reevaluating Medicare and Medicaid payment practices.
This is not new. We’re not just now “discovering’’ this problem. But we should be saying enough is enough. It’s time we recognize as a nation that for too long, we have had a quiet epidemic on our hands. Plain and simple, drug and alcohol addiction is a disease, not a moral failing — and we must treat it as such.
Among her plans:
• Empower communities to prevent drug abuse among teens
• Provide treatment to everyone who wants it
• Give first responders the overdose reversal drug naloxone
• Train health care providers to recognize substance abuse disorders and consult a prescription monitoring program
• Prioritize treatment over prison
Only a few candidates have discussed the opiate and heroin crisis, which will likely kill 20,000 people this year.
Also on Wednesday, Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie sent out a tweet in which he both mentions his pro-life credentials and says he favors treatment for addicts.
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