Obama seeks more than $1 billion to fight opioid abuse

The Obama administration said on Tuesday that it would ask Congress to spend an additional $1.1 billion next year to combat a growing epidemic of opioid analgesic and heroin abuse. Nearly 50% of the new money would be used to expand treatment facilities, which are in short supply in much of the nation. The rest of the money would go to programs intended to prevent prescription drug overdoses, crack down on illegal sales, and improve access to naloxone. Opioids were involved in 28,648 deaths in the United States in 2014, according to CDC.