Why Is The Comprehensive Addiction & Recovery Act So Important?

I remember the silence well. In the early 1990s I attended a congressional hearing where former First Ladies Rosalynn Carter and Betty Ford shared their personal experiences with mental illness and addiction. Besides a few gasps, you could have heard a pin drop. It was a different time in Washington politics, which handled substance use and treatment policy behind closed doors. Usually only members with a loved one with a substance use disorder or those who had a large treatment facility in their state or district were vocal about the issue.

Today, more than 20 years later that attitude is beginning to shift, but there is still more work to do.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, an average of 120 people per day are dying from drug overdoses. From affluent communities in New York City to rural neighborhoods in Kentucky, these deaths are touching every state in America. No congressional district is unscathed, especially by the twin epidemics of prescription drug and heroin use. Today Republicans and Democrats alike are facing an illness that is not only robbing our communities of their residents, but imploding city, county, state and federal budgets; crowding our jails and prisons; filling our emergency rooms; and draining Medicaid and Medicare budgets.

But none of this compares to the human suffering associated with the loss of a loved one.

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