SUD Crisis

Congress should use the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA)[1] model to prohibit the use of zoning, landmarking, and other land use laws to prevent the construction of permanent supportive housing and homeless shelters, which are critical to addressing our nation’s homelessness crisis.

The Biden-Harris Administration launched a campaign for youth on the dangers of fentanyl.[1] Funding and support for this campaign should be sustained as fentanyl continues to be involved in more deaths of Americans under 50 than any cause of death, including heart disease, cancer, homicide, suicide and other accidents.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) should identify successful college recovery programs, including "recovery housing" on college campuses, and provide support and technical assistance to increase the number and capacity of high-quality programs to help students in recovery.[1]

The Administration should reinstitute the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) program to improve data collection and provide resources for other promising surveillance systems.[1]

Congress should pass the STRIP Act to amend the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to exempt individuals from punishment for the possession, sale, or purchase of fentanyl drug testing equipment.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) should develop an early identification campaign for mental health and substance use disorders (MH/SUDs) that is similar to the agency’s "Learn the Signs. Act Early. Program," which focuses on learning and knowing the signs of developmental delays in children.[1]