{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://pallone.house.gov/press-release/pallone-celebrates-passage-legislation-combat-opioid-epidemic", "Pallone Celebrates Passage of Legislation to Combat the Opioid Epidemic", "2016-12-19", "2016", "2016-12", "Democrat", "House", "NJ", "Frank Pallone", "P000034", "pallone.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "LONG BRANCH, NJ\u00a0\u2013 Today at the Damon House in New Brunswick,\u00a0Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06)\u00a0celebrated the passage of provision in the 21st\u00a0Century Cures Act, which provides $1 billion over two years to combat the opioid epidemic. Last Week, Pallone joined President Obama and Vice President Biden at the White House for the signing of the legislation.\n\u201cOpioid abuse affects everyone \u2013 people of every faith, every ethnicity, every sexual orientation, and every background,\u201d said Pallone. \u201cThey are our friends, family, and neighbors. This legislation allows our communities to strengthen our defenses against the opioid epidemic that has impacted so many of us.\u201d\nEarlier this year, Congressman\u00a0Pallone led successful Democratic efforts\u00a0to pass and secure enactment of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA), a law that improves the tools available to prescribers to prevent opioid abuse. CARA expands access to lifesaving naloxone, an opioid overdose reversal drug, and expands access to evidence-based treatments that help individuals with opioid use disorders enter recovery.\nIn New Jersey, more than 184,000 individuals have been admitted to substance abuse treatment facilities for heroin or opioid abuse since 2010 and more than 5,000 have died from heroin-related deaths since 2004.\u00a0 The CDC recently\u00a0published a report\u00a0indicating that heroin deaths increased by 20.6 percent between 2014 and 2015. Deaths from synthetic opioids are increasing at a rapid rate, rising 72.2 percent during the same time period.\nIn January,\u00a0Pallone held a press conference\u00a0at Damon House to stress the urgency of Congress acting on these important issues.\u00a0Damon House Inc. was formed to establish, operate and maintain a residential and outpatient program for those suffering with substance abuse disorder and drug dependence and to rehabilitate those persons. \u00a0In addition it was formed to encourage people with substance abuse disorder to seek treatment and to aid them in independent living.\nLast week, President Obama signed the 21st\u00a0Century Cures Act into law \u2013 his last public bill signing in office.\u00a0 Under the legislation, $1 billion will be allocated to fighting the opioid epidemic by providing grants to states to supplement opioid abuse prevention and treatment activities like improving prescription drug monitoring programs, implementing prevention activities, training for health providers and expanding access to opioid treatment and recovery programs.\u00a0 This fills a funding gap that Democrats tried unsuccessfully to include in CARA.\u00a0\n###", 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://pallone.house.gov/press-release/pallone-celebrates-passage-legislation-combat-opioid-epidemic"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.394681865349412, "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"}