[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 188 (Tuesday, October 26, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S7354]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Opioid Crisis

  Mr. CASSIDY. Madam President, we need to talk about the opioid 
crisis.
  The 2020 data shows the largest annual increase in opioid deaths in 
the last 50 years. According to the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention, 69,710 Americans died last year from opioid-related 
overdoses, a 37-percent increase from 2019.
  In Louisiana, the opioid crisis is getting worse--and fast. In 2020, 
our State, Louisiana, saw a serious spike and the steepest surge in 
drug overdose deaths in the Nation. Louisiana drug overdose deaths 
surpassed a record high 2,100 in the 12 months leading up to March 
2021. Overdose mortality increased statewide by over 56 percent last 
year.
  These numbers are devastating. Last year, opioid deaths increased, 
for example, in New Orleans by 51 percent with 365 OD deaths, 69 
percent in Jefferson Parish, 35 percent in St. Tammany, and a 64-
percent increase in St. Bernard Parish. Deaths continue to climb 
throughout the State.
  In Alexandria, Acadian Ambulance ``responded to nearly 160 calls of 
opioid overdoses just in Rapides Parish--an average of over one call 
per day.''
  East Baton Rouge Parish, the State capital, is seeing significant 
increases in fatal overdoses. According to a local TV station and the 
coroner's office, 242 people died of an overdose in 2020. This year, 
through September, the East Baton Rouge Parish has seen 214 fatal 
overdoses, again, in the first 9 months of this year.
  Now, the double tragedy of this is that these deaths are preventable. 
In 2018, Congress passed landmark opioid legislation, and for the first 
time in almost 30 years, the number of opioid deaths decreased. Then 
the pandemic hit. Louisiana became the top State in drug overdose 
growth during COVID-19. The pressure of the pandemic, the subsequent 
influx of fentanyl from other countries--all this increased drug 
addiction and, hence, drug death. After a year of lockdown, social 
isolation, and stress, the opioid-related deaths shot through the roof.
  Now, the opioid crisis is an epidemic. We should treat it like one. 
It took a backseat to COVID during the pandemic, but it is time we 
bring renewed attention to the opioid crisis because, for opioids, 
there is no vaccine.
  Over 1,900 folks in Louisiana lost their lives to drug overdose last 
year--again, a 48-percent increase from 2019. We must be aware that 
these are not just statistics; they are lives. They are mothers and 
fathers, daughters and sons, and friends losing their lives to 
addiction and being lost to others because of addiction.
  It is a national crisis, a statistical crisis, and, most importantly, 
a personal crisis. And as the numbers speak for themselves, we feel it 
throughout Louisiana and our Nation.
  We need to act now before more lives are lost. The crisis must be met 
head-on at all levels. We need to work with local leaders to make sure 
we implement opioid policies like the ones Congress has already passed 
in CARA and the SUPPORT Act. These provide resources to stop illegal 
drugs at the border, support the discovery of nonaddictive painkillers, 
and deliver treatment to those already addicted. Every day we don't 
take action, another mother loses a child, a son loses a father, and a 
wife loses a husband.
  I am committed to solving this crisis and to saving these lives. 
Let's come together as a Congress and rededicate ourselves to solving 
the opioid epidemic.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.
  Ms. ROSEN. Madam President, I request the scheduled vote occur 
immediately.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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