WASHINGTON – Minnesota will receive $6 million in federal funding to address the opioid crisis, Sen. Amy Klobuchar announced Friday.
The Department of Human Services will expand access to medication-assisted treatment using the funds made available through the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act that passed last year.
"Doubling down on efforts to combat the opioid crisis in our state is as critical as it has ever been," Klobuchar, a sponsor of the law, said in a statement.
She pointed to statistics from the state Health Department that drug overdoses have killed at least 637 people in Minnesota over the past year, an increase of 9.2 percent over the 583 deaths in 2015. Those deaths include increasing tolls from heroin in the Twin Cities and methamphetamine in outstate Minnesota, according to Health Department statistics.
"The resources made available through this funding will mean more families can find the help they need and more first responders will have the support they need to save lives," she said.
"I will continue working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to build on these efforts and expand access to treatment and recovery services."
Nearly $250,000 will go to the White Earth Band of Ojibwe to combat drug overdoses. Opioids have hit some tribal communities even harder than the rest of Minnesota.
Congress made $1 billion available to fund the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, a law that encourages states to pursue a variety of strategies to fight opioid addiction.
