Murray Co-Sponsors Opioid Crisis Bill

SEATTLE, WA - The US Senate unanimously approved the Opioid Crisis Response Act, a law co-sponsored by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.). The passage of the bill to the Senate floor follows an analysis by Murray's office showing that opioid abuse cost the state $9 billion in 2016 alone. The costs included fatalities, health care spending, addiction treatment, criminal justice, and lost productivity.

"This new analysis shows just how much our communities are losing economically as they work to face the many challenges of the opioid epidemic," Murray said in a statement.

The new legislation, which comprises 40 separate proposals, provides funding for federal agencies such as the National Institutes of Health and the Food & Drug Administration. According to The Hill, the law would ease restrictions on prescribing smaller packs of opioids, support research on developing nonaddictive painkillers and offer additional border security to stem the flow of drugs into the country.

US Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Ver.) has proposed an amendment to the bill penalizing companies that deal opioids illegally. (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Seattle Patch, click here to find your local Washington Patch. Also, follow us on Facebook, and if you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Image via Toby Talbot/AP