📌 Link to the Text of the Act
📌 Why It Was Done
CARA was enacted to combat the opioid epidemic by authorizing a comprehensive response including prevention, treatment, recovery, law enforcement, and criminal justice reform.
📌 Pre-existing Law or Constitutional Rights
The Controlled Substances Act (1970) and later drug laws focused on enforcement. CARA shifted federal policy toward integrating treatment and recovery support into the response.
📌 Overreach or Proper Role?
Supporters say it was a long-overdue public health response. Critics argue it lacked adequate funding and left enforcement-heavy drug policies intact.
📌 Who or What It Controls
- •Federal agencies (coordinate addiction and recovery programs)
- •State and local governments (receive grants for prevention/treatment initiatives)
- •Healthcare providers and nonprofits (funding for medication-assisted treatment, naloxone distribution, recovery housing)
📌 Key Sections / Citations
- •Expanded access to naloxone (opioid overdose reversal)
- •Authorized grants for medication-assisted treatment (MAT)
- •Strengthened prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs)
- •Enhanced treatment alternatives to incarceration
📌 Recent Changes or Live Controversies
- •Reauthorized and expanded in SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act (2018)
- •Ongoing debates about adequacy of funding
- •Remains central to U.S. response to the opioid crisis, alongside state-level initiatives
📌 Official Sources
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