What to Know
- Congressman Josh Gottheimer announced his Student Athlete-Stop Addiction Strategy, a plan to protect student athletes from the opioid crisis
- The CDC reports that opioids are currently the single leading cause of drug-related deaths in the U.S.
- Gottheimer's strategy calls for the Department of Health and Human Services to play a role in combating student athlete opioid addiction.
A New Jersey congressman unveiled a plan to prevent and combat opioid addiction in college athletes on Friday.
Congressman Josh Gottheimer said his Student Athlete-Stop Addiction Strategy calls for the Department of Health and Human Services to play a role in combating opioid addiction in collegiate athletic departments.
The plan asks for HHS to have up-to-date data publicly available, to assess current actions being taken to help collegiate athletes, and for the agency to recommend options for coordination between the federal government, colleges, and students.
"As we all celebrated the remarkable student athletes from Villanova achieving the pinnacle of their collegiate careers on the court, we need to demand that America take better care of our student athletes when they are off the court.” said Gotteimer.
The CDC reports that opioids are currently the single leading cause of drug-related deaths in the U.S.
In a recently passed funding bill, $3.3 billion was invested into the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Centers for Disease Control, and the National Institute of Health to fight opioids.
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Gottheimer was joined by Bergen County Sheriff Saudino, Hackensack University Medical Center's Dr. Michael Kelly, Fairleigh Dickinson University Dean Dr. Michael Avaltroni, and founder of Hope and Healing After and Addiction Death Gail Cole.
