White House proposes more money to battle heroin epidemic

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is proposing a significant boost in federal spending to battle the nation’s heroin addiction epidemic.

The administration will seek a $1 billion increase in spending to expand access to treatment during the next fiscal year.

It will also seek about $90 million more for programs that help states and local governments execute drug prevention strategies and improve access to naloxone, an overdose-reversal drug.

There is bipartisan interest in Congress for the federal government to address the heroin epidemic.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that opioids, a class of drugs that include prescription pain medications and heroin, were involved in 28,648 deaths in 2014.

In particular, CDC found a continued sharp increase in heroin-involved deaths.