**Legislation will provide $1 billion in funding to address the opioid epidemic**

**Kuster, co-chair of the Bipartisan Task Force to Address the Heroin Epidemic, urged House and Senate leadership for the inclusion of funding**

This evening, Congresswoman Annie Kuster (NH-02), co-founder and co-chair of the Bipartisan Task Force to Combat the Heroin Epidemic, welcomed the passage of the 21^st Century Cures Act in the House of Representatives. The legislation includes $1 billion in funding to support efforts to tackle the opioid epidemic. The 21st Century Cures Act is comprehensive legislation intended to improve and coordinate medical innovation and research at the National Institutes of Health, Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Earlier this month, Kuster led a letter to House and Senate leadership calling for the inclusion of funding to address the opioid crisis.

“We’ve long known in New Hampshire that the opioid epidemic needs to be treated like the public health emergency that it is, and today the House of Representatives said in a resounding voice that it agrees,” said Congresswoman Kuster. “The Cures bill that we’ve passed will provide critical funding to those on the frontlines of this crisis and help states support recovery, treatment, and prevention efforts, while making important advances in groundbreaking medical research. I’m especially encouraged that New Hampshire will have broad discretion to use this funding in ways that best reflect the needs of our state. I urge my colleagues in the Senate to follow suit and pass this bill so we can get it to the President’s desk as swiftly as possible.”

“New Hampshire is currently in the grips of a devastating opioid epidemic,” said Linda Paquette, the Executive Director of New Futures. “The solutions to effectively addressing this crisis include increasing the capacity of law enforcement to cut off the flow of drugs into our state, and increasing access to prevention, treatment and recovery services for people suffering from Substance Use Disorders. It is well-established that these services are effective in reducing the harm caused by the disease of addiction, but a lack of adequate funding for them in the Granite State has significantly impeded our ability to turn the tide on the epidemic. The 21st Century Cures Act will provide New Hampshire with desperately needed resources to ensure that addiction is prevented and people in need of services are able to access them. Congresswoman Kuster has been relentless in her efforts to find solutions to the opioid crisis. New Futures applauds her efforts to ensure passage of the 21st Century Cures Act and looks forward to continuing to work with her to end the crisis.”

New Futures is a statewide organization that works to prevent and reduce drug abuse across New Hampshire.

The Cures Act authorizes a total of $1 billion including $500 million in each of Fiscal Years 2017 and 2018 to address the opioid epidemic. The funds are to be provided to state agencies that are on the frontlines of the effort to combat the opioid crisis. The grants will be awarded directly to the states and are intended to supplement existing efforts funded via grants previously provided through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Those programs are broadly applicable to treatment, prevention, education, and recovery.  All states will be entitled to funding, but the amounts will be prioritized by incidence and prevalence of opioid abuse and addiction. 

Congresswoman Kuster has been at the forefront of the fight to address the heroin and opioid crisis at the federal level and in New Hampshire, and she has been an outspoken advocate for the need to support medical, law enforcement, treatment, and recovery efforts.

Kuster has hosted numerous roundtables with law enforcement, treatment providers, and recovery experts throughout New Hampshire and brought the Bipartisan Task Force to Combat the Heroin Epidemic to New Hampshire for a field hearing to hear directly from local stakeholders. She supported the passage of 18 legislative items targeting the opioid epidemic, many of which were championed by the Task Force that Kuster co-founded. In recognition of her leadership on this issue, Kuster was appointed to the conference committee tasked with producing the final version of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) – a role typically reserved for more senior members.