Ryan: Congress cracks down on opioid epidemic
There’s a man from southern Wisconsin who has a story of hope and inspiration. But that wasn’t always the case. For Kyle Pucek, an ankle injury at 23 turned into an addiction to heroin that nearly took his life.
Kyle was prescribed opioids for the pain. He got hooked. And like so many Americans found himself in a dangerous spiral for survival.
Kyle has been clean for more than four years now, but he lost a lot before getting there. He was sent to the hospital after suicide attempts and a near overdose. He can name for you at least 10 friends whose lives have been claimed by drugs.
Now, working with nonprofits in his native Janesville, he shares his story to encourage those struggling to enter recovery and get the help they need. One organization he works with is called Hope Over Heroin, a faith-based organization that uses a three-tiered approach to fight opioid addiction and support families impacted by the crisis.
Stories like Kyle’s are inspiring Congress to take action, create more hope and save lives. For one, we are establishing more recovery centers like the one in Janesville as part of a series of reforms we’re considering on the House floor this week.
Altogether, this will be the most significant congressional effort against a single drug crisis in history.
Here are just a few numbers to think about. In 2016 alone, 865 people in our state died opioid-related deaths, whether from heroin, synthetic opioids or prescription pills. Nationwide, the crisis claims more than 115 lives each day. The rate of Wisconsin babies born with neonatal abstinence syndrome — meaning they were exposed to drugs in the womb — has more than quadrupled between 2006 and 2015.
In this horrifying way, opioids are reaching the most vulnerable among us before they even take their first breaths.
This epidemic does not care about political party, social status, age, race or hometown. It does not care about where you’ve been — or where you’re going — it simply rips the livelihood from whoever is caught in its path. That’s why just about every one of us knows someone affected by this crisis.
The time is now: We need to step up and fight the opioid epidemic from all sides.
In the last two years, the federal government has passed two major pieces of legislation to combat this crisis. In 2016, Congress passed the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act. Earlier this year, we allocated nearly $4 billion toward opioid abuse prevention and treatment as part of a broader government funding package.
To build on that, we have put together meaningful bipartisan legislation to make a difference for those who are at risk or struggling with addiction or recovery. This means creating more access to recovery centers so people have a place to turn to for help. In addition, the measures the House will consider over the next two weeks will stem the flow of opioids by changing how pills are prescribed and encourage non-opioid treatments. We will pass legislation to target the deadly synthetic opioid, fentanyl and other synthetic opioids like it. And we will give law enforcement more access to the resources they need to get these drugs off the street.
Of course, bills passed in Washington alone will not stop this epidemic. We all have a role to play in supporting those affected, including putting an end to the stigma surrounding addiction. We need to be clear that addiction does not define a person, and there is no shame in wrestling with it or asking for help. All of us can do our part to offer compassion and support.
Earlier this year, Kyle attended the State of the Union as my guest, sitting in the front row of the gallery across the hall from the first lady. Kyle is proof that no matter how far we fall, all of us can pick ourselves up with a little help, and hope, too. He is a reminder of why we do this: When government and communities work together to tackle these problems, we can most successfully lift up those in need.