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Opioid & Prescription Drug Abuse

Addiction is not a moral failing, but a disease that requires medical treatment. People who are addicted to opioids need help, not jail. We must stop treating those struggling with this illness as criminals and start treating them as community members who need our assistance.

Families in Northwest Washington are no stranger to the challenges of opioid and prescription drug abuse. Deaths caused by heroin and painkillers in our state have increased 31 percent between 2002 and 2013.

The stories I hear from families are heartbreaking and far too frequent. When I talk with parents, community leaders and law enforcement they ask for help preventing overdoses, making treatment more available and paving an easier path of recovery.

That is why I’m working to provide law enforcement with more training and the supplies they need to reverse overdoses, including increased access to the lifesaving drug naloxone. I'm also pushing to make sure our communities can put federal resources into action for effective treatment and oversight through drug courts to aggressively fight this epidemic and reunite families.

Substance abuse has been stigmatized as a moral failing for too long. We must invest in solutions that will put people on the road to recovery.