Washington, D.C. — Today, the co-chairs of the Bipartisan Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Task Force hosted a roundtable on the ongoing mental health and substance use disorder crises and what steps Congress can take to end this epidemic. The meeting was attended by Dr. Rahul Gupta, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, and R. Joshua Gordon, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health.

During the roundtable, Co-Chairs Reps. Annie Kuster (D-NH), David Trone (D-MD), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), and Lisa McClain (R-MI), highlighted their efforts to address these crises, including expanding access to suicide prevention resources, investing in youth mental health, and investigating the impact of social media on mental health. 

“We are committed to building on the bipartisan success of the last Congress to end the mental health and substance use disorder crises gripping our country,” said the co-chairs. “Today’s conversation was a great example of how we can bring together Members from both sides of the aisle with experts to get to the bottom of these issues and come up with real solutions. We will continue to utilize every tool at our disposal to stop the flow of dangerous and illegal substances into our country, hold illicit drug distributors accountable, and address the underlying demand for these dangerous drugs.”

The Bipartisan Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Task Force brings together over 130 Democratic and Republican lawmakers committed to combating the growing opioid, substance use disorder, and mental health crises. During the 117th Congress, the Task Force passed 26 bills from their legislative agenda into law. In 2021, more than 106,000 Americans died from an overdose, and in 2022 that number rose dramatically due to the prevalence and accessibility of dangerous synthetic drugs like fentanyl and xylazine.

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