S.Amdt. 3410

SA 3410. Mr. REID submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to
amendment SA 3378 proposed by Mr. Grassley (for himself, Mr. Leahy, Mr.
Whitehouse, Mr. Portman, Ms. Klobuchar, Ms. Ayotte, Mr. Graham, Mr.
Coons, Mr. Cornyn, and Mr. Durbin) to the bill S. 524, to authorize the
Attorney General to award grants to address the national epidemics of
prescription opioid abuse and heroin use; which was ordered to lie on
the table; as follows:

[[Page S1237]]

At the end of title I, add the following:

SEC. __. SUPPORT FOR STATE RESPONSE TO SUBSTANCE ABUSE PUBLIC
HEALTH CRISIS AND URGENT MENTAL HEALTH NEEDS.

(a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated,
and are appropriated, out of monies in the Treasury not
otherwise obligated, $750,000,000 for each of fiscal years
2016 and 2017, to the Secretary of Health and Human Services
(referred to in this section as the ``Secretary'') to award
grants to States to address the substance abuse public health
crisis or to respond to urgent mental health needs within the
State. In awarding grants under this section, the Secretary
may give preference to States with an incidence or prevalence
of substance use disorders that is substantial relative to
other States or to States that identify mental health needs
within their communities that are urgent relative to such
needs of other States. Funds appropriated under this
subsection shall remain available until expended.
(b) Use of Funds.--Grants awarded to a State under
subsection (a) shall be used for one or more of the following
public health-related activities:
(1) Improving State prescription drug monitoring programs.
(2) Implementing prevention activities, and evaluating such
activities to identify effective strategies to prevent
substance abuse.
(3) Training for health care practitioners, such as best
practices for prescribing opioids, pain management,
recognizing potential cases of substance abuse, referral of
patients to treatment programs, and overdose prevention.
(4) Supporting access to health care services provided by
Federally certified opioid treatment programs or other
appropriate health care providers to treat substance use
disorders or mental health needs.
(5) Other public health-related activities, as the State
determines appropriate, related to addressing the substance
abuse public health crisis or responding to urgent mental
health needs within the State.
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