Amy Klobuchar: “I come to the floor today to speak in support of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act. This bill represents an…”

“I come to the floor today to speak in support of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act. This bill represents an important step in tackling the growing crisis of prescription drug and heroin addiction in this country. I thank my colleagues, especially the original sponsors of this bill. Senator Whitehouse, Senator Portman, Senator Ayotte, and I have worked together on this legislation for a number of years. Drug overdoses from opioids now claim more lives than car accidents every year. That is a pretty shocking statistic that I don't think most Americans would expect. The crisis is ripping apart families from all different backgrounds, and with deaths increasing nearly sixfold since the year 2000, it is a crisis on the rise. This deadly trend struck at the heart of Minnesota. Last year alone, 336 Minnesotans died after overdosing on opioids. Since I started working on this bill, I have heard from people in communities across my State. In Montevideo, 12-year-olds were courted by pushers who said: Hey, kids. If you go in and check your parents' medicine cabinets--I'll give you a list--and bring us their prescription drugs, we will give you a can of beer. That happened in Montevideo, MN. Shelly Elkington shared her tragic story. Her daughter, Casey Jo, was a champion swimmer and hoped to study nursing like her mom, but in 2008 she was diagnosed with Crohn's disease, and that is when she started taking opioids for pain relief.…”