Hillary Clinton Outlines Plan to Combat Substance Abuse
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ABC News(MANCHESTER, N.H.) — In an op-ed for the Union Leader, Hillary Clinton announced a plan to establish a $7.5 billion fund to support federal-state partnerships in fighting substance abuse.
The plan will also call for increasing funding to the existing Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant program. Clinton notes that on her first trip to New Hampshire after announcing her candidacy for president, one voter said that a big concern in the state was heroin addiction. “In state after state, this issue came up again and again — from so many people, from all walks of life, in small towns and big cities,” Clinton writes.
“This is not new,” the op-ed continues, “we’re not just now ‘discovering’ this problem.”
“Plain and simple, drug and alcohol addiction is a disease, not a moral failing — and we must treat it as such.”
Clinton says that her plan sets five specific goals: giving communities the power to prevent drug use among teens, ensuring that all addicts can receive comprehensive treatment, making sure that first responders carry naloxone, the so-called overdose antidote, requiring health care providers to receive training to help recognize substance abuse disorders and to prioritize treatment for low-level and non-violent offenders instead of prison sentences.
“There are 23 million Americans suffering from addiction,” Clinton writes, “but no one is untouched. We all have family and friends who are affected. We can’t afford to stay on the sidelines any longer.”
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