The Truths We Hold, by Kamala Harris: on Drugs

Kamala Harris: Dismantle War on Drugs; start with marijuana legalization

Kamala Harris: Opioid crisis requires emergency mobilization

This is a crisis that deserves a major federal mobilization. We need to declare a national state of emergency, which would provide more funding, right away, to help combat this disease--more resources to pay for addiction treatment, hospital services, skills training, and more.

We need to make sure that people who are addicted have access to medication-assisted-treatment (MAT)--drugs like buprenorphine which prevents withdrawal symptoms and cravings without producing the kind of high that heroin or OxyContin does. Many insurance companies will cover the cost of opioids while charging more than $200 a month for buprenorphine. That has to change. We have to change it.