WASHINGTON—This week, U.S. Representatives Brittany Pettersen (D-CO) and Zach Nunn (R-IA) introduced bipartisan legislation to increase the prevalence and quality of long-term recovery support for individuals with substance use disorders and associated mental health disorders. The bill would bolster the existing Building Communities of Recovery program (BCOR), significantly increasing its ability to fund local community organizations or centers that champion the development, enhancement, expansion, and delivery of recovery support services.
"My mom suffered from a prescription opioid addiction after a back injury that eventually led to heroin and fentanyl. After 30 years, she finally got the medical help she desperately needed—but there are far too many who aren’t as lucky,” said Pettersen. “A lack of resources for treatment and recovery for substance use disorders have ravaged communities and families across Colorado and the country. That’s why I’m continuing this fight at the federal level, alongside Congressman Nunn, to enhance the availability and quality of treatment to save lives and offer hope to people who need it the most.”
“Too many Americans have a family member, friend, or someone they know who has been addicted to opioids. Communities across the country continue to struggle with how to deal with this epidemic,” said Nunn. “While we must do more to stop the flow of illegal drugs into this country, we also need to help those suffering from addiction now. The Communities of Recovery Act will enhance support for local community organizations that provide critical resources to people working to recover from addiction.”
Fatal overdoses continue to rise, with more than 106,000 people in the United States dying from drug-involved overdoses in 2021 alone. BCOR is a grant program administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) that provides support to nonprofit recovery community organizations or centers that:
Offer peer recovery support services designed and delivered by individuals with personal experience in addiction and recovery
Deliver recovery support services that directly assist individuals and families to recover from alcohol or drug dependency
Collaborate with current regional and local harm reduction community partner efforts that will encompass harm reduction
This bill is just the latest in Pettersen’s ongoing efforts to address the drug epidemic in the United States. In the Colorado state legislature, she spent a decade championing policies to improve access to substance use disorder treatment and is now working on the federal level to attack the opioid crisis head-on. Her efforts include measures to prevent the import of illicit drugs, crack down on drug traffickers and their financing operations, and work to address the sale of drugs through social media.
