Clinton Supports Tax on Prescription Opioids to Raise Funds for Addiction Treatment

Hillary Clinton this week said she supports a plan by Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia to levy a tax on prescription opioids. Manchin says the tax would raise up to $2 billion annually, which would be used to expand access to opioid addiction treatment.

West Virginia has the highest rate of drug overdose deaths in the nation, CNN reports.

According to Manchin’s website, of the 628 drug overdose deaths in the state in 2014, most were linked to prescription drugs; 199 were oxycodone-related, while 133 were attributed to hydrocodone.

Earlier this year, Manchin proposed a tax of one cent for each milligram of active opioid ingredient in a prescription pain pill to be paid by the manufacturer or importer. The tax funds would be distributed to states as part of a drug prevention block grant program.

The plan would offer a rebate for “opioids prescribed for cancer-related pain and hospice patients and an exemption for opioids used as part of medically assisted treatment.”

Clinton called the tax a “great idea” during a roundtable discussion on opioid addiction on Tuesday, the article notes.

“I started looking, I said, ‘You know what, we’ve got an alcohol tax on alcohol, we have a tobacco tax.’ So I said, ‘Why don’t we have a one penny per milligram for every manufactured pharmaceutical that manufactures any opiates, just opiates?” Manchin said.

In September 2015, Clinton announced a $10 billion plan to “combat America’s deadly epidemic of drug and alcohol addiction.” The plan would expand treatment and recovery programs, ensure first responders have the opioid overdose treatment naloxone, and urged states to emphasize treatment over prison.