Springfield Republican: US Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Ed Markey seek $45 billion to combat opioid epidemic

U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, joined about a dozen other Senate Democrats this week in pushing legislation that would invest billions of dollars into efforts to combat opioid abuse -- funding which they argued is needed to address current shortcomings in the federal government's response to the so-called epidemic.

The bill, known as the Combating the Opioid Epidemic Act, would set aside $45 billion for opioid prevention, detection, surveillance and treatment efforts, including nearly $4.5 billion per fiscal year through 2027 for substance abuse programs in individual states and $50.4 million per fiscal year though 2022 for research on addiction and pain related to substance abuse, according to the Democrats' offices.

It would further expand the use of funding already allowed under the 21st Century Cares Act for surveillance, data collection and reporting on the number of opioid overdose deaths, among other things, officials said.

Read more on the Springfield Republican's website here.

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