Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Rare Moment of Unity by Marissa J.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/10/03/opioids-senate-passes-legislation-battle-nations-opioid-crisis/1515372002/

https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/03/politics/senate-opioids-legislation/index.html


A legislation for an Opioid Epidemic was approved by a 98-1 in the Senate and is being sent being sent to President Trump for his signature. It is a rare moment between republicans and democrat lawmakers to both agree on the legislation. The house passed it 393-8. Opioids are a devastating crisis and have an impact all across the U.S. The National Institute of Drug Abuse reports that at least 115 people die from an opioid overdose a day. If the legislation passed it would require the centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to implement programs for prevention and treatment of opioid addictions including drug management to prevent over prescribing. Senator Mike Lee was the only no on the legislation. 

Why would Mike say no?
Do you think passing the legislation will really help with the issue?
Do you think that democrats and republicans will team up again any time soon?

7 comments:

  1. The opioid issue has been a big issue in the United States. It is such a huge problem that everyone is agreeing on the legislation, which rarely happens.

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  2. I think there is potential for Senator Lee to disagree with the legislation because it isn't good enough (aka needs improvement before passing); for instance, he might think that it is unsuitable because it might not be strict/lenient enough on prevention/enforcement protocol.
    I personally believe that rehabilitation programs would be a better solution than increasing punishment because they have more potential to really facilitate healing of addiction and abuse. We need to recognize and respect the fundamental value in all human life and honor that for the treasure that it is and treat each other with the utmost kindness and compassion.
    There does seem to be hope for this legislation, though, seeing as it was so enthusiastically embraced by both sides; it is always encouraging to see laws get support from both sides of the aisle, and lends credibility to the ideas presented if all angles can see enough potential for success. This is the way it is supposed to be: all parties cooperating for the common good! Hopefully this sweet compromising will continue.

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  3. Yes I believe this will help the opioid crisis in the United States. This is a very serious problem impacting the U.S. today and the faster we can help and prevent deaths from opioids the better.

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  4. I think it can help. It’s very rare for Republican and Democrats to agree on something, but in this case the issue is so widespread that something had to be done. The sooner the issue is taken care of, the more lives that could potentially be saved.

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  5. I think this is because Senator Lee is a Republican and most Republicans are against government regulations. I believe that the legislation really will help the epidemic because it is supposed to prevent doctors from prescribing opioids too often. I think that this is a very rare moment and it probably won’t happen again in the near future. Since their views on the major issues that press our nation are so different, it will take an extremely big problem such as this to bring them together again.

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  6. Lee is against it because he opposes Government regulation. There is already a lot of regulation when it comes to prescribing medicine. That being sad, the opioid epidemic is a huge problem and needs to be handled in some way. It is also nice to see people in Washington pass a bi-partisan legislation. It's too early to call for me whether it will really help save lives or not.

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  7. I agree with Daniel about Lee´s decision. I do not think passing the legislation will really help with the issue. I do you think that democrats and republicans will team up again any time soon, it may be on a big issue that may come up in the unforeseen future.

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