Senator Portman continues to raise awareness about the heroin and prescription drug epidemic that has been devastating communities throughout Ohio and the country. In Lima yesterday, Portman hosted a drug roundtable with the Lima Urban Minority Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Outreach Program (UMADAOP). He met with program leaders and those in recovery from alcohol and drug addiction and discussed how his recently signed-into-law Comprehensive Addiction & Recovery Act (CARA) will help turn the tide in the fight against addiction:

WLIO-Lima

Reporter: “A new federal law designed to help recovering drug addicts was the topic of a roundtable discussion in Lima today. Sam Shriver has more.”

Shriver: “U.S. Senator Rob Portman from Ohio met with members of the Lima Urban Minority Alcoholism and Drug Outreach Program Thursday afternoon to talk about the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, or CARA. That bipartisan bill was signed into law by President Obama on July 22nd. He says addiction needs to be treated as a disease.”

Portman: “A lot of people think of drug addiction as, well, it’s just a bad decision someone made and they can get over it without going through some process. Unfortunately, that’s not the truth. And we’re learning more and more about this, but addiction is like other diseases: it requires treatment; it requires focus and longer term recovery and when that happens you see some great success stories.”

Shriver: “CARA is designed to ensure that federal resources are focused on evidence-based prevention, treatment, and recovery programs that have been tested and proven effective in local communities. Programs already established in Lima are a good start.”

Myrtle Boykin Lighton, Ex. Dir. UMADOP: “Well, we offer treatment, intensive patient treatment and non-intensive. We do recovery housing, sober living, and so it is our hopes that the CARA act will provide so that we can continue keeping people engaged in long-term recovery services.”

Shriver: The agreement passed by Congress and signed by President Obama authorizes 181 million dollars in discretionary spending for new programs contained in the legislation.

Portman: “This is not a political issue. It’s non-partisan. It’s not even bipartisan. This is an issue where you see Republicans and Democrats coming together. The vote on our bill, after three years of work—and I’ll admit it took a little while to get it through; everything does in Congress unfortunately—was 94-1. That never happens in the United States Senate. You had Republicans and Democrats coming together because this issue is affecting every one of their states.”

Lima News

“At a town hall meeting Thursday to discuss drug addiction and recovery services, U.S. Sen. Rob Portman spoke about the legislation he sponsored that will put $180 million into the effort to help people.

“But Portman turned the microphone over to four recovering addicts whose lives were nearly lost and then saved thanks to the Lima Urban Minority Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Outreach Program. He listened as they explained how they became addicts and, more importantly, how they turned their lives around…

“Several on the panel said getting out of a drug-use-friendly environment was key to staying clean. Portman said he hears that often.

Portman, a Republican, also said the new law, the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, helps focus on long-term treatment which is working across the country and exactly what each addict on the panel credited for success.

Helping fight drug addiction and helping people recover is one of Portman’s biggest concerns and something he talks about across the state…”

CARA was signed into law by President Obama on July 22, 2016. As Portman said in a video released after the signing, “help is now on the way.”

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