Gov. Cooper Submits Opioid Commission Recommendations | Eastern North Carolina Now

Press Release:

    RALEIGH: As a member of the President's Commission on Combatting Drug Addiction and Opioid Crisis, Governor Cooper today submitted comprehensive recommendations for the Commission's preliminary report and encouraged a coordinated approach in tackling the opioid crisis.

    "Despite the persistence and determination of addiction counselors, advocates, law enforcement, first responders and others, a great deal must still be done to improve our collective response to this epidemic," Gov. Cooper wrote.

    In establishing the Commission, the President's executive order called for a preliminary report on ways the Federal Government can address the opioid crisis.

    The Governor recommended that the Commission prioritize the following items:

1. Maintain and expand access to affordable and adequate health care coverage to all Americans.
2. Increase availability of life-saving naloxone via first responders, community service agencies, treatment settings, and co-prescribing.
3. Expand federal, state, and local law enforcement partnerships to reduce drug trafficking and diversion.
4. Replicate the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program.
5. Expand access to treatment, including recovery supports including peer-based recovery, and transitional housing support.
6. Create a national approach for interstate exchange of prescription drug monitoring program information.

    In North Carolina, Governor Cooper and DHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen have put in place a state Opioid Action Plan. Governor Cooper attached the state plan to his submission. The plan is the culmination of more than a year of engagement with diverse stakeholders to determine the best possible approaches for combating the opioid crisis.

    "To successfully combat this opioid misuse, we must collaborate and coordinate at all levels of government, and nothing short of our unwavering and sustained commitment will suffice," wrote Gov. Cooper.

    In the letter, Governor Cooper also reiterated the importance of affordable and quality health care coverage to the success in combating the opioid crisis. At the Commission's first meeting at the White House in June, Cooper delivered strong remarks opposing Congress' efforts to take away health care and increases costs.

    "Federal health care legislation that includes drastic cuts to Medicaid spending and leaves tens of millions of Americans without health care coverage will jeopardize our efforts to stem the opioid crisis, and will make our citizens less healthy and less safe," wrote Gov. Cooper. "We must work to increase - not decrease - access to treatment, and quality, affordable health care coverage is the most essential ingredient."

    Click here to read Gov. Cooper's recommendations for the preliminary report.

• Contact: Ford Porter
•     govpress@nc.gov