February 19, 2019

Vox: Elizabeth Warren's Ambitious Plan to Fight the Opioid Epidemic, Explained

Elizabeth Warren is widely known for her public battles with big banks and Wall Street. She’s gotten attention for her wealth tax proposal. She’s praised, even by some conservatives, for her book The Two-Income Trap.

As a US senator for Massachusetts, Warren has built a formidable record on the opioid crisis, which now kills more Americans than gun violence or car crashes. She’s called for more research into alternative painkillers, including medical marijuana. She’s tried to holdPresident Donald Trump’s administration accountable for its weak response, even pushing a government watchdog agency to investigate the administration.

And Warren, along with Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), in 2018 introduced what experts regularly cite as the best bill in Congress on the issue: the Comprehensive Addiction Resources Emergency (CARE) Act. The bill would authorize $100 billion over 10 years to combat drug addiction, funneling money to cities, counties, and states — particularly those hardest hit by drug overdoses — and other organizations to boost spending on addiction treatment, harm reduction services, and prevention programs.

“Our communities are on the front lines of the epidemic, and they’re working hard to fight back,” Warren told me in an interview. “But they can’t do it alone. They can’t keep nibbling around the edges.”