This bill (S. 524) would authorize $103 million annually through fiscal 2021 for the Department of Justice to award grants to state, local, and tribal governments to provide services relating to opioid abuse, including first-responder training for opioid overdose reversal drugs and treatment alternatives to incarceration programs. It also would establish a Health and Human Services Department grant program for states to encourage pharmacists to dispense opioid overdose reversal drugs pursuant to a “standing order,” which permits pharmacists to dispense medication without a person-specific prescription.
The Senate passed the final version (conference report) of S. 524 on July 13, 2016 by a vote of 92 to 2 (Roll Call 129). We have assigned pluses to the nays because attempting to help citizens deal with drug overdose and addiction is not a responsibility of the U.S. government under the Constitution. While it is arguably better to treat addicts as people having a medical problem rather than as criminals needing incarceration, this is not a constitutional use of taxpayer money. Such programs, if handled by government, should be handled by local or state governments rather than the federal government.
