If you were wondering who CARA is, I have an answer for you.
First, it is not a who but a what. CARA stands for the Comprehensive Addiction
and Recovery Act. It is the largest federal, bipartisan legislation to date for
addiction support services, with $40-80 million toward advancing recovery support and treatment services in local
communities and states across the country with the goal of saving countless
lives and addressing the opioid/heroin crisis we currently find ourselves in.
What do I mean by crisis? According to the Center for
Disease Control, overdoses have now surpassed car accidents as the number one
cause of accidental deaths. Overdose deaths are at the highest level they have
ever been in the 21st century, and deaths from use of heroin have
more than tripled in the past 5 years. This is not going away on its own!
CARA will combat this at multiple levels. Following are just
a few of the ways it will begin to address the crisis we currently find
ourselves in:
·
CARA will fund Recovery Community Organizations
(RCO) to provide public education/outreach, strengthen the community support
network and provide recovery services.
·
CARA will build communites of support for youth
in high school and colleges/universities.
·
CARA will fund veteran’s treatment courts, fund
women’s recovery services and expand treatment for opioid addiction.
·
CARA will launch a national education campaign.
·
CARA will direct the Department of Education to
remove the question about “prior drug convictions” from the Pell grand and
student-loan applications.
·
CARA will educate people on the use of naloxone
for saving people who have overdosed on opiates and make it more available to
police and first responders.
That is a quick look at what CARA 2016 will be able to
do if it passes both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Here is the actual bill in its entirety.
Now the good news and bad news about CARA this year.
First, the good news by way of old bad news. CARA was first introduced in 2014 and didn’t
pass. Last year The Unite to Face Addiction Rally was held in Washington, DC. The day after a lot of people hit the hill and talked to their Senators and
Representatives. Thanks in large part to that effort, CARA passed the Senate
this year in March with a 94-1 vote. Not to throw him under the bus, but so
that he can be held accountable by his constituents, Ben Sasse from Nebraska
was the sole person voting against CARA.
Now bad news; according to govtrack.us CARA still only has a 40% chance of being enacted. That is because even
though it has been formally passed by
the U.S. Senate, it now must get bot the House and the Senate to support appropriations. The
good news is that 119 U.S. Representatives are now cosponsors of CARA. I am
from Missouri and I am ashamed, because none of Missouri’s U.S. Representatives
are included in that 119.
Click here to take action. On this page you can educate yourself better on CARA 2016 and the legislative
process, find out whether or not your U.S. Senators and Representatives are
cosponsors of CARA so you can email them a call to take action if they aren’t
and a thank you if they are. You can also learn how to get more involved with
Faces and Voices of Recovery, which is the National Recovery Advocacy group at
this site. I would also recommend you find your state's advocacy group, and if it doesn't exist create one. Here in Missouri we have the Missouri Recovery Network and locally we have Better Life in Recovery, which will be opening up Springfield Recovery Community Center on May 1st.
Please get behind CARA and pass this blog along. I don’t
know about you, but I am tired of the way we are currently doing things. Not
because we don’t have good methods out there, but because they are underfunded
and can’t do what they need to without legislation like CARA being enacted.
Last year I lost 8 people I worked with in one capacity or another to overdose,
and I have already lost 2 this year. I am tired of going to funerals and I
truly believe that this can help.
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