{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://degette.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/fight-against-opioid-heroin-epidemic-needs-more-funding-says-diana-degette", "Fight Against Opioid, Heroin Epidemic Needs More Funding, Says Diana DeGette", "2016-09-16", "2016", "2016-09", "Democrat", "House", "CO", "Diana DeGette", "D000197", "degette.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette called on Congress to better fund the fight against the prescription opioid\u00a0and heroin epidemic\u00a0in Colorado and throughout the nation\u00a0on Friday, saying legislation to address the issue thus far needs to go further.\n\u201cIt\u2019s good to have the right policies in place,\u201d the Denver Democrat said at the Stout Street Clinic\u00a0downtown, \u201cbut you have to fund the programs or it doesn\u2019t work.\u201d\nDeGette pointed to statistics showing Colorado is second worst in the nation in prescription drug abuse and highlighted the rising number of deaths from opiates. She said the problem is\u00a0exaggerated in rural areas,\u00a0where there are fewer treatment resources.\n\u201cWashington has been talking about this issue for a long time, and frankly not enough has been done,\u201d DeGette told reporters at a news conference about the issue. \u201cEarlier this year we passed legislation targeted at opioid abuse and it was signed into law. It was a big step in beginning to revise our country\u2019s laws around opioid abuse, and frankly it came too late.\u201d\nShe added: \u201cEven though we passed that legislation, the funding mechanisms were woefully low in that bill. \u00a0There simply was not enough funding to give states and localities the money they need to combat opioid abuse.\u201d\nHeroin use has reached crisis levels across the nation, including in Colorado, where overdoses are up almost 350 percent in the past five years, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. The DEA says heroin has become its main focus in the state.\nKent MacLennan, executive director of\u00a0Rise Above Colorado, a youth drug prevention organization, said prescription drug overdose deaths in Colorado have eclipsed the state\u2019s rate of traffic fatalities.\nDr. Beth Cookson, who works in opiate treatment at the Stout Street Clinic, said treating those dependent on opiates is difficult and expensive and takes a combination of medication and therapy. Abstinence-based\u00a0methods have only a roughly 15 percent success rate.\nThe clinic, which serves Denver\u2019s homeless community, has begun giving out the opiate-blocker naloxone \u2014 also known by its trade name, Narcan \u2014\u00a0to their clients.\nDeGette, MacLennan and Cookson all agreed that more resources are needed to battle the national issue and turn the tide on dependence.\n\u201cOpioid abuse is a very complex problem that has grown up in this country,\u201d Cookson said. \u201cIt takes a very complex response.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://degette.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/fight-against-opioid-heroin-epidemic-needs-more-funding-says-diana-degette"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.413445919752121, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}