On Thursday, the U.S. Senate passed a comprehensive drug treatment and prevention bill by overwhelming majority, according to The New York Times.
The bill comes in an attempt to address the nation's drug epidemic that killed more people than car accidents last year. Here are five things to know about the Senate's attempt at drug reform.
1. The bill had massive bipartisan support passing 94 to 1. Republican senators in swing states hit hard by the drug crisis took to the floor to promote the measure.
2. The bill commits money to treatment and prevention programs for addicts, including those incarcerated. It also bolsters prescription drug monitoring programs and the distribution of naloxone, a drug administered to reverse overdoses. The measure also increases disposal sites for medications often abused by teenagers.
3. Democrats threatened the bill after Republicans shot down a portion of the measure that would provide an extra $600 million for authorized programs.
4. The legislations passage in the House is uncertain. A companion bill there lacks similar popularity, according to The Times, but several committees are working to galvanize support in the House to ensure the bill's passage and to bolster the nation's fight against a pervasive drug problem that was catalyzed by prescription medicine.
5. Executive director of the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers, Marvin Ventrell, JD, is a fan, telling The Times, "This is big and significant...it had legs and interest because of the opioid crisis that has hit Middle America."
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