Resources for the Heroin & Opioid Epidemic

You can learn more about Safer Use of Opioid Pain Medication here.  

Congressman Hank Johnson recognizes the importance of helping families across the district and state take the opioid epidemic head on.

More Americans die every day from drug overdoses than from car accidents –an average of 129 people per day, with six out of 10 deaths related to opioids. And the majority of those who need help with addiction issues are not receiving it. In 2014, only 11 percent of the approximately 22.7 million Americans who needed treatment for substance abuse received it, according to the Office of national Drug Control Policy.

As of June 2017, more than 90 Americans died after overdosing on opioids, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

The misuse of and addiction to opioids—including prescription pain relievers, heroin, and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl—is a serious national crisis that affects public health as well as social and economic welfare. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the total "economic burden" of prescription opioid misuse alone in the United States is $78.5 billion a year, including the costs of healthcare, lost productivity, addiction treatment, and criminal justice involvement.

“By providing resources to families and continuing to fight for funds for the groups and organizations that work to combat opioid addiction, we hope families will find the support they need to deal with these issues,” said Congressman Johnson. “So many of our families have been affected by this epidemic – and many don’t know where to turn. I will continue to help families and hope that my office can be a small step to begin healing.”

What are HHS and NIH doing about it?

In response to the opioid crisis, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is focusing its efforts on five major priorities:

1. improving access to treatment and recovery services
2. promoting use of overdose-reversing drugs
3. strengthening our understanding of the epidemic through better public health surveillance
4. providing support for cutting-edge research on pain and addiction
5. advancing better practices for pain management

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a component of HHS, is the nation's leading medical research agency helping solve the opioid crisis via discovering new and better ways to prevent opioid misuse, treat opioid use disorders, and manage pain. To accelerate progress, NIH is exploring formal partnerships with pharmaceutical companies and academic research centers to develop:

1. safe, effective, non-addictive strategies to manage chronic pain
2. new, innovative medications and technologies to treat opioid use disorders
3. improved overdose prevention and reversal interventions to save lives and support recovery

On this page you will find a link to a better understanding of the President declaring the country’s opioid crisis a “National Emergency.”

• You will also find a guide to Drug Prevention Tips for family members of all ages  
• A way to sign up and volunteer with a Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) coalition.   
• Six parenting practices to help reduce the chances your child will develop a drug or alcohol problem.

Congressman Johnson will continue to work with HHS, NIH, the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, Community Anti-Drug Coalition, the National Council, National Association for Children of Alcoholics, Shatterproof, Faces & Voices of Recovery, Legal Action Center, National District Attorneys Association, Fraternal Order of Police, National Governors Association, the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, National Institute of Drug Abuse, the Office National Drug Control Policy and any other group or organization that works on the national level and in the community to combat this crisis. 

For more information, click here