Presidential contender Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) floated a proposal Wednesday to combat America’s ever-growing overdose crisis.
The proposal would allocate $10 billion per year primarily for treatment and harm reduction. However, some experts argue that that might not be enough.
Warren debuted her proposal in a Medium post, highlighting the year-on-year decline in life expectancy attributable to opioids, as well as suicide and overdose deaths involving drugs like methamphetamine and cocaine.
Her proposed response is the reintroduction of the Comprehensive Addiction Resources Emergency (CARE) Act, a bill co-authored with Rep. Elijah Cummings (D., Md.). If passed, the bill would allocate $100 billion to fund “first responders, public health departments, and communities on the front lines of this crisis,” divided up into ten $10 billion payments over ten years.
Each year states and territories would receive $4 billion in funding; an additional $2.7 billion would go to the “hardest hit counties and cities.” $1.7 billion would go towards public health surveillance and research, $1.1 billion will support nonprofits, and $500 million will expand access to naloxone. This spending will be paid for with Warren’s “ultra-millionaire tax,” which is now estimated to fund outlays totaling $129 trillion. – READ MORE