Pubdate: Sun, 07 Feb 2016
Source: Alaska Dispatch News (AK)
Copyright: 2016 Alaska Dispatch Publishing
Contact:  http://www.adn.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/18
Note: Anchorage Daily News until July '14
Author: Barack Obama
Note: Barack Obama is president of the United States of America.

OBAMA: BUDGET WILL HELP ADDRESS OPIOID, HEROIN ABUSE ACROSS US, 
INCLUDING ALASKA

Last fall, I listened as a mother named Cary Dixon told her family's 
story at a forum I convened in West Virginia. It was heartbreaking. 
Cary's adult son has struggled with a substance use disorder for 
years, and she described the pain that families like hers have gone 
through. "We dread the next phone call," she said. "We don't take 
vacations for fear of the next crisis. We come back from vacations 
because there's a crisis."

Cary and her family are far from alone. As the use of prescription 
drugs has increased over the past 15 or 20 years, so has their misuse 
- -- as well as the wreckage caused by other opioids like heroin. In 
fact, four in five heroin users started out by misusing prescription 
drugs, and then switched to heroin. As a consequence, between 2002 
and 2013, the rate of heroin-related deaths in America nearly 
quadrupled. More Americans now die of drug overdoses than in motor 
vehicle crashes. In Alaska, overdoses claimed 124 lives in 2014 alone.

This crisis doesn't discriminate. It touches everybody -- men and 
women, young and old, rich and poor; urban, suburban, and rural 
alike. It affects the coal miner or construction worker who takes 
pain medications for a work-related injury -- or the doctor who 
writes them the prescription.

Yet for too long, the stigma of addiction has discouraged too many 
Americans from seeking and receiving the help they deserve. With no 
other disease do we expect people to wait until they're a danger to 
themselves or others to self-diagnose and seek treatment.

So we need to address this disease like we would any other -- through 
effective prevention and treatment. We need to educate ourselves, our 
family members and our communities about the dangers of prescription 
drug misuse as well as the availability of treatment and the hope of 
recovery. And we need to make sure every American seeking treatment can get it.

That's why I've directed my administration to address this crisis. 
We've been working with communities to prevent and treat substance 
use disorders, pursue effective law enforcement strategies, reduce 
overdose deaths and support those in recovery. And in October, I 
announced plans to train more federal health care workers who 
prescribe opioids, identify barriers to good treatment and rally 
support from outside of government to help address this epidemic.

But we need to do more to help families like Cary's. That's why the 
budget I'm sending to Congress includes $1.1 billion in new funding 
to stop the opioid overdose epidemic -- funding to help every 
American seeking treatment get the care they need. It will help 
states like Alaska expand their treatment capacity and make services 
more affordable. My budget will continue to support education, 
prevention, drug monitoring programs, and law enforcement efforts to 
keep illegal drugs out of our communities. And finally, it will 
improve access to the overdose-reversal drug naloxone -- so that we 
can save more lives.

These are commonsense steps -- steps to help Americans get the 
treatment they need, support law enforcement already stretching their 
resources, and support families and communities ravaged by this 
disease. I'm encouraged by the bipartisan support we've seen from 
leaders across the country on this issue, and I expect Congress to 
act. Because rather than keep spending billions of taxpayer dollars 
on overly long prison sentences for nonviolent drug offenders, we can 
save money, improve public safety and achieve better outcomes by 
focusing on getting treatment to those who need it.

This is a crisis that could touch any of us. These kids are our kids. 
These folks are our parents; our brothers and sisters; our neighbors 
and friends. We should treat them that way. We should take on this 
issue for their sake. And if we do that, we'll not only help our 
loved ones, we'll help strengthen our families, our community and our 
entire country.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom