US President Joe Biden speaks about the DISCLOSE Act in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC on September 20, 2022.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images
The Biden Administration announced Friday it provides $1.5 billion in grants to help states, territories and tribal lands address the opioid crisis.
The grants will expand access to treatment and recovery support services, allow states to invest in better overdose education, and increase accessibility to FDA-approved naloxone products, which are used to help to reverse an opioid overdose.
Last year, more than 107,000 people died from overdoses in the United States, according to Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This figure marked a 15% increase in overdose-related deaths from 2020.
Members of the Biden administration, including Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff and U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, attended a recovery month summit on Friday to show support for those in recovery and discuss grant funding.
“As someone in long-term recovery, I know how important access to mental health and treatment for substance use disorders is,” Walsh wrote on Twitter.
More than $104 million in funding will be targeted specifically to support rural communities, which have been particularly affected by the opioid crisis. He will be assigned to the training, education and awareness of the workforce, as well as new drug treatment sites.
Biden also called for an investment of more than $42.5 billion in funding for national drug control agencies as part of his fiscal year 2023 budget. The investment would represent an increase of $3.2 billion. dollars over the previous year.