Addiction and overdoses

“It means roads and bridges that let ambulances and fire trucks get there fast. It means making sure firehouses, EMTs, and police have the training and equipment they need, and that communities trust the people sworn to protect them. It means investing in mental health and addiction services so our ERs and firehouses aren’t the only safety net. It means defending the collective bargaining right of first responders.”

“Passed laws expanding insurance coverage, mental health supports, recovery housing, and opioid treatment reporting.”

“Introduced legislation that became law which permits health insurers to provide coverage for recovery housing for persons with substance use disorders (Public Act 100-1065)”

“Advocating for behavioral health funding and recovery support programs.”

“My top priorities in Washington will be protecting Medicaid, Medicare, and ACA access, bringing more behavioral health and recovery services to our neighborhoods, and expanding preventive care so families do not have to wait until they are in crisis to get help.”

“Our district needs more counselors, more recovery programs, and easier access to care. I will support federal investments that bring behavioral health resources into neighborhoods.”

“I co-founded the West Side Heroin Opioid Task Force to expand access to recovery care.”

“I have spent years working alongside public health leaders, harm reduction teams, and community organizations to expand access to treatment, distribute naloxone, support drug checking, and reduce overdose deaths.”

“As a Member of Congress, I will fight to restore these funds, protect evidence-based addiction treatment, and ensure that federal policy supports, not sabotages, local public health work. We should be expanding access to care, not pulling the rug out from under communities doing the hard work on the ground.”

“La Shawn K. Ford has been a leading advocate for addiction prevention, harm reduction, and mental health access in Illinois, including efforts to expand overdose prevention strategies and community-based treatment models that have helped reduce overdose deaths across Chicago.”

“I’ll also expand mental health and substance use treatment and push for increased support for rural providers—because nobody should have to drive 90 miles or wait six months to see a doctor.”

“Mental health care, including trauma-informed therapy and substance use support”

“Expand access to gender-affirming care, addiction treatment, and long-term care”

“Increase Medicaid reimbursement rates and federal grant funding for mental health and substance use disorder services”

“Expand peer support programs, housing-first recovery models, and culturally competent care”

“I will always fight for the healthcare resources that our community needs, including mental health and substance use care.”

“Housing is the foundation every person needs to live with dignity and stability, yet too many Americans are being pushed out, priced out, or left out entirely. We can’t fix this crisis with the same failed approaches. We need a bold, housing-first strategy that treats homelessness as a public health issue, not a criminal one. That means investing in wraparound services for mental illness and addiction, building long-term housing for all, and federally subsidizing 30% of all new housing developments to ensure affordable, dignified housing is truly accessible.”

“I’ve kept health centers open, helped expand health insurance to 92% of all Californians, and successfully fought to add thousands of additional mental health and addiction beds across the state.”

“In Congress, I’ll fight to stop the illegal flow of fentanyl and other illicit drugs across our southern border, while making sure Arizonans suffering from addiction can get the help they need”

“More affordable and accessible health care, including mental health care and addiction treatment.”

“Investing in community needs – including resources for state and local police and first responders, mental health and addiction treatment, lower health care and housing costs, and improved public education.”

“SB 888 and SB 110 (Author: Wiener; bill failed, but State is now pursuing implementation): Substance use disorder services. Allows for expansion of contingency management as a tool of mental health and substance use care.”

“Our approach as a city will always prioritize treatment and recovery first, but the impact of this crisis on the surrounding community also requires a public safety response.”

“Bring those who are severely drug-intoxicated in public to a clean and safe environment to sober up and be offered treatment. These spaces get people off the street and increase their likelihood to accept treatment.”

“It’s too hard for people to access care — we need to direct more resources to our addiction and mental health systems to help them better deal with this crisis.”

“Expand federal resources for fentanyl treatment, including naloxone access and overdose prevention programs, so people struggling with addiction get help before it's too late.”

“As chair of the Public Safety Committee, she’s also led the charge to keep communities safe – securing resources for first responders, protecting us from wildfires, advancing gun violence prevention, and expanding access to lifesaving opioid treatment.”

“Co-founded the West Side Heroin/Opioid Task Force, now a national model for overdose response.”

“Co-sponsor of House Bill 1, which became Public Act 99-0480 as the Heroin Crisis Act”

“Leader and Co-founder of the West Side Heroin/Opioid Task Force, formed to bring attention to and promote solutions regarding the severe increase in deaths due to overdoses affecting the West Side of Chicago”

“Helping establish the West Side Heroin and Opioid Task Force, which contributed to a decrease in overdose deaths and ambulance responses.”

“I have spent years working alongside public health leaders, harm reduction teams, and community organizations to expand access to treatment, distribute naloxone, support drug checking, and reduce overdose deaths.”

“She pioneered programs to support victims of human trafficking, created a task force to tackle the opioid epidemic, and worked alongside law enforcement to get illegal guns off the streets.”

“I have spent years working alongside public health leaders, harm reduction teams, and community organizations to expand access to treatment, distribute naloxone, support drug checking, and reduce overdose deaths.”

“La Shawn K. Ford has been a leading advocate for addiction prevention, harm reduction, and mental health access in Illinois, including efforts to expand overdose prevention strategies and community-based treatment models that have helped reduce overdose deaths across Chicago.”

“Expand federal resources for fentanyl treatment, including naloxone access and overdose prevention programs, so people struggling with addiction get help before it's too late.”

“Introduced legislation (HB 110) in the 102nd GA and HB 2929 in the 104th GA for which Department of Human Services shall have the authority to approve any pilot overdose prevention site, including establishing minimum standards for patient, client, and participant safety and compliance and monitoring procedures; passed committee with bipartisan support, now in Rules”

“SB 57 (Authors: Wiener; bill vetoed): Safe consumption sites. SB 57 allows San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles to pilot safe consumption site programs. These sites are supervised facilities, with healthcare professionals, where people who are addicted can consume their drugs under supervision in a safe and healthy setting. These sites have been wildly successful where they’ve been implemented in New York CIty, Canada, Australia, and Europe. The results speak for themselves: a majority of individuals ultimately transition into recovery, infections go down, overdoses drop (there’s never been a fatal overdose in one of these sites), crime goes down in the surrounding area, and syringe litter decreases.”

“Scott has worked to expand these spaces, securing funding for meth sobering sites and twice passing statewide legislation to allow safe consumption sites, despite opposition that ultimately led to the measures' veto.”

“As a Member of Congress, I will fight to restore these funds, protect evidence-based addiction treatment, and ensure that federal policy supports, not sabotages, local public health work. We should be expanding access to care, not pulling the rug out from under communities doing the hard work on the ground.”

“Forced opioid companies and chemical polluters to pay millions for the damage they caused.”

“Back home in San Diego County, Marni served as a civil prosecutor in the City Attorney’s Office, where she sued special interests ripping us off – price gougers during the pandemic, corporate polluters for toxic dumping , and the opioid industry for the addiction and devastation they caused.”

“Prosecuted opioid manufacturers as Deputy City Attorney, holding them accountable for fueling the addiction crisis in San Diego communities.”

“As Deputy City Attorney in San Diego, Marni took on the opioid industry for the harm they caused our communities — and she’ll take that same fight to Congress.”

“In Congress, I’ll fight to stop the illegal flow of fentanyl and other illicit drugs across our southern border, while making sure Arizonans suffering from addiction can get the help they need”

“SB 1045/SB 40 (Author: Wiener): These two pieces of legislation create a new conservatorship tool to help the most debilitated people on our streets get the help they need: people with severe mental health and addiction issues who are dying and who are incapable of accepting voluntary services. It’s inhumane to allow these residents to unravel and ultimately die on our streets. These two laws, in combination, will allow San Francisco’s Department of Public Health to place these individuals in crisis into a six month conservatorship in order to get them the help they need, get them healthy, and eventually transition them into permanent housing. The Mayor and Board of Supervisors are currently implementing this state law.”

“SB 1045 (2018): Gives San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego counties greater flexibility to expand and modernize the conservatorship system, providing support for individuals experiencing chronic homelessness along with severe mental illness, substance use disorders, repeated psychiatric hospitalizations, or frequent emergency medical service use.”