FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
6 February, 2023
Tucker, GA – The Georgia Council for Recovery joins the U.S. Congress Bipartisan Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Task Force in urging President Biden to reinstate the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to a Cabinet-level position.
The State of the Union offers the perfect platform to reinstate ONDCP to the Cabinet allowing it to marshal the full resources of the federal government against this scourge of overdoses demonstrating to the Congress and the American people the commitment of the Biden Administration to address addiction as an epidemic and to ending it.
The ONDCP is responsible for the development and implementation of the National Drug Control Strategy and Budget. The office coordinates across 19 federal agencies and oversees $41 billion to address substance use disorder. In 1993, President Clinton elevated the head of ONDCP to serve on his cabinet and the position held Cabinet-level status until 2009. Since the position was removed from the Cabinet, deaths from overdose in the U.S. have more than doubled, with powerful synthetic opioids like fentanyl infiltrating much of the country’s illicit drug supply.
“Reinstating the Director of ONDCP to a Cabinet-level position was the first recommendation in the report of the bipartisan, bicameral U.S. Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking, published in February last year. People are dying at rates higher than World War II and the Vietnam War, families are suffering and communities are hurting. We need President Biden to elevate ONDCP to the Cabinet and send a message that he is serious about addressing addiction as an epidemic,” said Neil Campbell, Executive Director Georgia Council for Recovery.
“Addiction is an epidemic. The voices of peers and families are heard via ONDCP. When ONDCP is in the Cabinet, our voices are in the Cabinet, until then we are not getting the attention our medical issue deserves. We urge President Biden to reinstate ONDCP to the Cabinet and send a powerful message that Recovery is Real,” said Jeff Breedlove, Chief of Policy Georgia Council for Recovery.
“Since the ONDCP Director’s position was downgraded in 2009, Members of the House and Senate have repeatedly called for the demotion’s reversal, and advocacy groups, trade associations, substance use disorder treatment facilities, and former ONDCP leadership all support its reinstatement. The Georgia Council for Recovery agrees with the U.S. Congress Bipartisan Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Task Force that reinstating ONDCP to the Cabinet is vital to curbing American deaths, reducing synthetic opioids entering the country, building interagency collaboration, and improving the effectiveness of drug control programs,” said Campbell.
“The Georgia Council for Recovery calls on each Member the Georgia Congressional Delegation to publicly announce their support for the bipartisan effort to ask President Biden to reinstate the ONDCP Director to the Cabinet. The people of Georgia deserve to have every Member of Congress from Georgia both support this important effort and to join the U.S. Congress Bipartisan Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Task Force,” said Breedlove.
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FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Jeff Breedlove
Chief of Policy and Communications
Georgia Council for Recovery
404-615-5735
#GARecovers
