Warren calls for federal government to treat opioid crisis like ’80s AIDS epidemic

Boston — U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is calling for the federal government to confront the opioid addiction crisis like it ultimately attacked the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s.

The Massachusetts Democrat said Friday that she will be unveiling legislation next week with Democratic U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, of Maryland, that would pump $100 billion in federal funding over the next 10 years to help communities battle the crisis that claims tens of thousands of lives each year.

Warren said the goal is to make sure funding goes directly to the hardest-hit counties where the most people are dying from drug overdoses. The bill also would ensure a portion of the money goes directly from the federal government to clinics and nonprofits pioneering new models of treatment.

The crisis has been decades in the making, but the response of the federal government hasn’t kept pace, Warren said

“Empty rhetoric and half measures won’t get the job done,” said Warren, who is facing re-election in November. “We need serious legislation that doesn’t just nibble around the edges of the problem. We need serious legislation that attacks the problem hard and commits the resources necessary to root it out.”

Warren made the announcement during a visit to an area of Boston previously known as the “Methadone Mile,” but rebranded as “Recovery Road.”

A spending plan signed by President Donald Trump last month commits the federal government to spend a record $4.6 billion this year to fight the crisis, which killed 42,000 Americans in 2016.

Some advocates said the funding isn’t enough to create the kind of treatment system needed to reverse the crisis. A White House report last fall said the overdose epidemic costs the country more than $500 billion a year.