On March 10, the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly approved the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA). The legislation embodies a comprehensive response to addiction and the opioid crisis, earning the support of over 130 organizations—including TASC—in the fields of prevention, treatment, recovery, law enforcement, and state and local governments.
CARA garnered strong, bipartisan support in the Senate, passing on a vote of 94-1. Among the bill’s strong leaders and supporters were Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Rob Portman (R-OH), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), as well as both Illinois Senators, Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Mark Kirk (R-IL).
More people died in 2014 from drug overdoses than in any previous year on record, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The vast majority of people who need addiction treatment do not receive it. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration estimates that only 2.6 million of the 22.5 million people across the country who needed help with a substance use disorder got it in 2014. The treatment gap also exists for people in prisons and jails, where an estimated 85 percent have been found to be substance-involved, but only 11 percent received any kind of treatment.
CARA’s key provisions include:
- Expanding the availability of naloxone—an overdose antidote—to law enforcement and first responders to help save lives.
- Expanding resources to identify and treat incarcerated individuals with addiction disorders promptly by collaborating with criminal justice stakeholders and by providing evidencebased treatment.
- Launching an evidence-based opioid and heroin treatment and intervention program to expand best practices throughout the country.
- Launching a medication-assisted treatment and intervention demonstration program.
Appropriations to implement the bill were not included in the legislation.