Biden administration awarded $1.5 billion to fight against the Opioid crisis

On Friday, the Biden administration announced that it is awarding $1.5 billion in grants to help states, tribal lands, and territories to combat the opioid crisis.

The grants of the Biden Administration will expand access to recovery support services and treatment. This grant will allow states to invest in better overdose education. It will also increase the accessibility of naloxone products which reverse an opioid overdose.

According to the data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, last year, in the US more than 107,000 people died after opioid overdosing. And the figure is 15% more overdose-related deaths from 2020.

Members of the Biden administration, including U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff attended a Recovery Month Summit to show support for recovering individuals and discuss the grant funding. Rural communities have been particularly hit hard by the opioid crisis, so more than $104 million is specifically granted to support rural communities. It will be allocated for education, outreach, and workforce training as well as new sites for medication-assisted treatment. In funding for National Drug Control Agencies, Biden called for an investment of more than $42.5 billion as part of his 2023 fiscal-year budget. From the previous year, the investment would be increased by $3.2 billion.