The Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) issued a statement in support of President Barack Obama’s recent remarks on prescription drug abuse prevention at a community forum in West Virginia.

The statement reads in part:

“We commend the President for speaking out on this important issue, which is devastating families and communities across our nation. The community forum underscored the importance of reducing the stigma around substance abuse addictions and the need for all sectors of society to work hand-in-hand in comprehensive solutions.”

In his 2016 fiscal year budget, President Obama set aside $133 in new funding to addressing the current opioid epidemic across the United States. This includes more resources for prescription drug overdose strategies, focusing largely on prevention.

 

Oregon has been named one of 16 states across the nation to receive federal funding through a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grant that aims to combat opiate abuse and overdoses—which are reaching epidemic levels. According to Street Roots, the goals of the grant include reducing the use of Oxycontin and similar medications and eliminating overlapping prescriptions where ever possible.

According to one Multnomah County official, there were 109 involving opiates in 2014, with about half of those incidents involving prescription drugs.

The grant award comes at the same time the Oregon Health Authority launches its State Health Improvement Plan, which has similar goals of reducing opioid overdoses across the state. Both the CDC grant and the OHA will help make naloxone, an opiate overdose reversing drug, more accessible throughout the region.

With recreational marijuana sales now legal in Oregon, officials in Multnomah County are looking for ways to address numerous concerns on how it will impact public health. This week, the county Department of Health presented a report recommending policies to help prevent marijuana dependence, impaired driving and access to youth.

Portland Tribune: “The report — one of the County Health Department’s regular Vital Signs data reports on emerging public health issues — attempts to bring some unbiased information to the issue since most research comes from the drug control side or advocacy side. It recommends that the public should be informed about possible risks related to use during pregancy and breastfeeding, and that policies be developed to limit product contaminants and products with high or unknown potencies.”