House Increases Addiction Research Funding

The U.S. House of Representatives' Appropriations Committee recently approved a budget plan that gives more funding to addiction research but no increase to President Bush's keystone Access to Recovery program.

Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly reported July 26 that the House measure increases funding via the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant a modest $10 million, bringing total block-grant funding to $1.789 billion in fiscal 2005. The Bush administration had called for $1.832 billion for the block grant.

The House also proposed pushing annual funding for the National Institute on Drug Abuse over the $1-billion mark, increasing funding $28 million for a proposed FY2005 budget of $1.19 billion. Funding for the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism would rise $13 million, to $442 million.

But while Bush had proposed $200 million for Access to Recovery -- which would provide people with alcohol and other drug addictions vouchers to pay for the treatment of their choice -- the House allocated $100 million to the program out of a total Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) budget of $419, the same as in 2004. The administration had asked for $517 million for CSAT.

Under the House plan, the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention would receive $200 million next year, up $1.6 million over 2004. That's slightly more than the President's request.

The Senate has yet to move on its version of the spending bill.

Source: www.jointogether.org