PEORIA — Bipartisan legislation passed by Congress and signed into law late last month by President Barack Obama to combat a national heroin epidemic is a solid start, U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood said in an interview this week.
The measure that addresses additional education and treatment, as well as working to scale back over-prescription of opioids by doctors and improve the availability of the anti-overdose drug Narcan tackles items that local residents raised as important during a series of forums across the 18th Congressional District, the Peoria Republican said during an interview at his district office in Peoria.
He passed along the feedback via a working group of former prosecutors who serve in the House who were involved in crafting portions of the legislation.
Equally important in Congress' action is the increased awareness of the topic, LaHood said, noting that the action this year will not end the epidemic.
"In some ways, I've analogized it a little bit to what drunken driving was 20 years ago in Illinois," he said. "What did we do? We raised awareness, we changed the law — we lowered the level of alcohol (allowed while driving) — we put a lot more resources, awareness into it and changed that, and that's come down."
The next step will be to allocate funding for implementing the bill, which Congress is expected to tackle as part of its budget process during September. A wide gulf exists between the $560 million or so that Republicans have spoken of providing and the more than $1 billion the Obama administration has sought for addressing the crisis.
LaHood said that the lower number was appropriate given the nation's deficit and the need to prove the bill's effectiveness — and its ability to help save taxpayers in the long run if its components prove beneficial.
"This is a start on this process," he said. "Let's get this money flowing through the grant process, see if we can turn the tide on this. If it's successful, we can come back and ask for more."
Chris Kaergard covers politics and government. He can be reached at 686-3255 and ckaergard@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisKaergard.
