Rob Portman is a United States Senator from the state of Ohio, a position he has held since he was first elected in 2010, running a campaign that focused on common-sense conservative ideas to help create jobs and get the deficit under control. Rob won with a margin of 57 to 39 percent, winning 82 of Ohio’s 88 counties. In 2016, he was re-elected, winning by an even larger margin of 58 to 37 percent and winning 84 out of Ohio’s 88 counties.
Senator Portman has a long record of working to combat the drug epidemic.
In 1996, as a Member of the House of Representatives, Portman founded the Coalition for a Drug-Free Cincinnati, now called PreventionFIRST!, a community anti-drug coalition. He wrote federal laws like the Drug-Free Workforce Act and the Drug-Free Communities Act, which has brought more than $1.3 billion to community anti-drug coalitions across the country and $40 million to Ohio. He is the author of the Second Chance Act, which provides drug treatment for those behind bars in order to break the cycle of addiction, crime, and incarceration. It has brought more than $19 million of funding to Ohio over the last nine years.
Senator Portman also wrote the ID Meds Act, a federal law that set a national standard for states to exchange information from prescription drug monitoring programs and gave states like Ohio a new tool in the fight against prescription drug abuse.
Senator Portman authored the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, or CARA, the first comprehensive reform of federal addiction policy in two decades. It authorizes $181 million annually in new federal investments in programs for those addicted to prescription drugs or heroin. It improves prevention efforts, increases access to treatment, and is the first federal law to support long-term recovery from addiction. Former President Obama signed it into law in July 2016. Senator Portman worked tireless to get this legislation signed into law, including giving 29 floor speeches in 2016. He is currently working to ensure a timely implementation of his legislation in order to get people back home the help they need. For more information on how you can apply for grants, go here.
This year, Senator Portman introduced the Synthetics Trafficking and Overdose Prevention Act, or the STOP Act, which would help stop synthetic heroin from crossing our borders. The legislation was recently endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police.