Today, Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) applauded the Senate’s passage of the conference report of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA), bipartisan legislation that gives local communities and law enforcement officials more tools and resources to combat opioid addiction. Senator Tillis is a co-sponsor of the legislation, which now heads to President Obama’s desk for his signature.
 
In 2014, 1,358 North Carolinians died from drug overdoses, more than the number who died from automobile accidents. A recent CDC report showed that people are 40 times more likely to be addicted to heroin if they are addicted to prescription painkillers.
 
“Too many North Carolina families are familiar with the devastation drug addiction can have on once promising lives. I’m proud to join my colleagues in this bipartisan effort to address painkiller and heroin addiction head-on by providing resources to assist substance abuse agencies, local governments, first responders and non-profit organizations in areas that are being hit the hardest by this epidemic,” said Senator Tillis. “I’m particularly pleased that CARA addresses the strain that the addiction crisis places on our criminal justice system by providing more resources to identify and treat incarcerated Americans, helping put them on the path to recovery.”