releases: https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=CE9B66D7-CF40-49C5-8F5C-DF05A9FD83C3
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=CE9B66D7-CF40-49C5-8F5C-DF05A9FD83C3 | Heitkamp Holds Roundtable Discussion on Addiction Crisis with Law Enforcement Officials and Health Care Professionals | 2018-09-14 | 2018 | 2018-09 | Democrat | House | ND | Heidi Heitkamp | H001069 | www.heitkamp.senate.gov | legacy | Heitkamp Has Been Working to Tackle the Long-Term Impacts of Substance Abuse and Trauma among Children, Provide Additional Resources to Support Communities FARGO, N.D. U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp today held a roundtable discussion on combatting the substance abuse and addiction crisis in North Dakota with community leaders, law enforcement officers, and health care professionals. Over the past few years, drug abuse and drug-related deaths have steeply risen across rural America. In North Dakota,drug-related deaths increased by nearly 400 percent from 2013 to 2016. And from 1999 to 2015,opioid deaths in rural America quadrupled among 18-25 year olds. At the Dakota Medical Foundation, Heitkamp gathered community leaders and advocates to discuss local efforts to decrease rates of substance abuse-related deaths and to recognize the toll that addiction is having in communities across North Dakota, including Fargo. Howard G. Buffett a philanthropist, county sheriff, and businessman joined Heitkamp to share his views on the negative effects of the opioid epidemic, particularly those he has witnessed during his time as a rural law enforcement official in Macon County, Illinois. Far too many families and towns in North Dakota have experienced the crippling effects of the raging addiction crisis. And our state's dedicated law enforcement and health care workers urgently need increased support and training to adequately tackle the range of problems caused by this scourge and to keep our communities strong and safe, said Heitkamp. To tackle the damaging impacts of opioids, methamphetamines, and other illicit drugs in our communities, I'm fighting in the Senate to bring more resources to the front lines while looking for new, innovative ways to address and limit the long-term consequences of a spiraling epidemic and providing wraparound comprehensive services to those suffering from addiction. Today's discussion was an important opportunity to hear from those who deal with this crisis every day, and I'll continue working with them to build strategies and to craft bipartisan legislation that produces real results in stemming the tide of addiction and building better paths to hope and recovery across rural America. As someone working on the front lines of law enforcement, I want to commend Senator Heitkamp for her commitment to bringing federal dollars to support communities in North Dakota and across the U.S. that are being affected by the addiction crisis in this country, said Buffett. I have also seen first-hand the Senator's commitment to securing our borders to address the flow of illegal drugs into the United States. It will take a bipartisan approach and I respect Senator Heitkamp's efforts to prioritize progress over politics. As part of her Strong and Safe Communities Initiative, Heitkamp has held discussions across North Dakota on combating opioid and substance abuse and addiction, including discussions in Bismarck, Grand Forks, Fargo, Jamestown, Minot, Dickinson, and Hazen. Heitkamp has been working to address this issue bypassing legislation to combat opioid abuse and helpingintroduce a bill called the LifeBOAT Act to provide more federal resources to address the epidemic. She alsointroduced a billto expand a critical federal grant program to provide $12 billion over five years for local organizations to treat drug abuse and addiction while preventing further overdoses.She helped pass legislation in 2016, which became law, that offers community-based prevention and treatment resources to combat opioid abuse. Traumatic experiences including substance abuse can lead to severe health and behavioral complications that can impact children throughout their lives.Congress is soon expected to pass bipartisan, comprehensive legislation to combat opioid and other substance abuse, which includes Senator Heitkamp's provisions to address the ripple effects of the overdose epidemic on children, families, and communities. And last month, Heitkamp met with several grandparents who have adopted or are fostering their grandkids as a result of suicide, substance abuse, and other circumstances that leave the children's biological parents unable to care for them a setup known as grandfamilies. Earlier today, Heitkamp and Buffett toured the North Dakota State University Soil Testing Lab to learn more about the facility's work to promote sustainable farming practices. Since fighting North Dakota's methamphetamine crisis as the state's attorney general in the 1990s, Senator Heitkamp has been working to stem the tide of addiction, abuse, and illegal drug trafficking in the state's rural communities. ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |