Congress responds to heroin crisis with major funding bill
Melissa Larkin-Skinner, a warrior in Florida's battle against drug addiction, offered this chilling testimony during a recent hearing in Washington: "I walked out of my veterinarian's office, looked toward the church next door and saw a dead body in the parking lot, a life lost due to heroin."
If this tragic scenario sounds familiar, it's because Manatee and Sarasota counties are experiencing a spike in drug abuse, addiction and overdose deaths. Melissa is the chief clinical officer at Centerstone Behavioral Hospital and Outpatient Practice in Bradenton.
I asked Melissa to come to Washington last month and share her experiences with members of Congress.
Many parents have told me heartbreaking stories about their children struggling with addiction. It was important for my colleagues in Congress to hear her story.
Our state and region has been severely affected by the growing heroin crisis. Florida heroin overdose deaths have increased 900 percent since 2010, and Manatee County is the epicenter of the epidemic -- the county saw more heroin deaths per capita than any other county in Florida in 2014.
Experts in the anti-drug community have made it clear to me that the solution requires a multi-pronged approach that includes education, treatment, prevention and drug interdiction at the borders.
I've been working on drug addiction and abuse issues for years, and was encouraged last week when Congress approved a sweeping package of bipartisan bills to confront the epidemic.
The centerpiece of this landmark legislative effort is a bill I co-sponsored that will provide over $500 million in funding to states and local communities for education, prevention and treatment programs. A similar bill has already been approved by the Senate and any differences will be ironed out in joint conference committee.
Another critical component in this fight is interdiction -- crippling the supply by slowing or stopping the flow of illegal narcotics into our country.
Two important bills approved by the House last week with my strong support accomplish this goal. The Transnational Drug Trafficking Act of 2015 now goes to the president's desk to be signed into law. The legislation allows federal prosecutors to go after drug traffickers in foreign countries when there is a reasonable suspicion to believe that their drugs will make it into the United States.
The House also approved the Kingpin Designation Improvement Act to make it easier to prosecute international drug kingpins and impose the toughest sanctions possible without risking public disclosure of classified information in court proceedings. The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.
This historic package of anti-drug bills will deliver critical funds to address the abuse of heroin and opiates, support our loved ones on their path towards recovery and slow the flow of drugs into our country.
Congress has sent a clear message that we need to put aside partisanship and get these bills to President Obama's desk without delay.
If this new effort is successful, fewer families will see their loved ones descend into addiction and anti-drug warriors like Melissa Larkin-Skinner will not see another life lost to heroin in a church parking lot.
U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, a Longboat Key Republican currently serving his fifth term, represents the 16th Congressional District, which spans parts of Southwest Florida, including Sarasota and Bradenton.
This story was originally published May 15, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Congress responds to heroin crisis with major funding bill."