A presidential proclamation makes this week Prescription Opioid and Heroin Epidemic Awareness Week.
In 2014, 78 Americans per day died from an opioid-related overdoses. Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Michael Botticelli said that needs to stop.
"And the best way to do that right now is for Congress to provide the $1.1 billion in funding President Obama requested, which would help states expand their prevention, treatment and recovery support services," Botticelli said.
Oklahoma stands to benefit greatly from that funding.
The state loses about two people a day to prescription overdoses, which are now the leading cause of injury death for Oklahomans 25 to 64 years old. Oklahoma ranks eighth nationally in prescription drug addiction.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said addiction is a disease.
"It's not a character flaw. It needs to be treated just in the same way we treat other diseases, like cancer and diabetes: aggressively, significantly, with significant investment of time and resources," Vilsack said.
Five of Oklahoma's top 10 prescribed narcotics are opioids, and there were more than 4 million prescriptions for them filled in 2013.
