Nixon's first instinct was actually to treat opioids as a disease.

So, we have it--we're at an inflection point, where we could potentially criminalize this again, or we could potentially treat the opioid crisis as a health issue.

This is how America has gone from criminalizing to treating opioids, and then going back again.

Because I've met people from all different social backgrounds, all different education backgrounds, come from all communities, not just mine, that are suffering from addiction, because of the lack of funding and resources that is being…

I think that we really have to embrace the saying and the concept that everybody, no matter where they come from, no matter what class, race, ethnicity, address they have, that everybody deserves the chance for treatment and recovery.

This is not the first time we've gone through this pendulum swing. This is how America has gone from criminalizing to treating opioids, and then going back again.

Everybody deserves the chance for treatment and recovery.

So, my question is, how do we move from Nixon's first approach of treating this as a disease to the war on drugs that was unleashed just a few years later, in the 1980's, and waging this war on drugs in communities of color?

Madam Chair, I rise to offer an amendment transferring $15 million to the CDC's Opioid-Related Infectious Disease program. Madam Chair, one of the deadly consequences of the opioid crisis and its related use of contaminated drug equipment…

Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk. The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment. The text of the amendment is as follows: On page 164, beginning on line 1, strike section 509. The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House…

Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk. The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment. The text of the amendment is as follows: Page 50, line 20, after the dollar amount, insert ``(increased by $15,000,000)''. Page 90…