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RE: In review: substance abuse op-ed

We think we have everyone’s edits. We are just doing some copy editing b/c with everyone’s additions, the op-ed is now almost 900 words and thus unlikely to be published. We will get this to her this morning. Thanks. * just offering alternative since concern raised. i'm good either way. On Sun, Aug 16, 2015 at 11:46 PM, Karen Finney <kfinney@hillaryclinton.com> wrote: But then it goes back to sounding like she discovered this epidemic in the white community when it's been going on in AA for a long time. Sent from my iPhone On Aug 16, 2015, at 11:34 PM, Joel Benenson <jbenenson@bsgco.com> wrote: Seems good if we have enough space. * If the goal is to name SC, but there's concern about calling out black men specifically, we could revise the sentence to say something like: "In South Carolina, a lawyer spoke movingly about too many young men who have ended up imprisoned for non-violent drug offenses rather than getting the treatment they needed." Here's what the lawyer said in the transcript: "*QUESTION:* My name is Carlyle Steele and I practice criminal law here in Greenville, and I’ve been shocked over the last 40 years at the mass incarceration of young men, particularly young African American men. Locking everybody up for minor offenses and nonviolent offenses isn’t working out. " On Sun, Aug 16, 2015 at 10:20 PM, Karen Finney <kfinney@hillaryclinton.com> wrote: Agree re AA; I think the mention is ok because she's talking about what people have talked to her about. Sent from my iPhone On Aug 16, 2015, at 9:44 PM, Marlon Marshall <mmarshall@hillaryclinton.com> wrote: Defer to Maya and Karen if we keep, but can we say African American instead of Black? On Aug 16, 2015, at 9:04 PM, Ann O'Leary <aoleary@hillaryclinton.com> wrote: Intended to be sure she was listening to votes in all 4 first states not just IA & NH with their skewed demographics. Think we need to keep it, but Maya/Karen- you good? Or want to suggest alternative? Ann O’Leary Sent from my iPhone (510) 717-5518 (cell) On Aug 16, 2015, at 6:50 PM, Amanda Renteria <arenteria@hillaryclinton.com> wrote: Perhaps I'm overly sensitive but should we change calling out black men at the beginning? I know we don't want to ignore that this is a big deal in the AfAm community, but it feels to me like she is singling them out which could be taken very badly. Defer to group but it stood out when I read it. Sent from my iPhone On Aug 16, 2015, at 8:37 PM, Karen Finney <kfinney@hillaryclinton.com> wrote: Sounds good. Sent from my iPhone On Aug 16, 2015, at 8:33 PM, Ann O'Leary <aoleary@hillaryclinton.com> wrote: Hi all - I am hearing separately that even with this change that the screenings could be misconstrued and likely more trouble than they are worth. Let's kill it and I'll revisit it as a good policy idea on the other side of this election but not one for campaign fodder. Here is my suggestion for four full points: That’s why I’m releasing a comprehensive strategy [LINK] to confront the drug addiction crisis head-on. My plan sets four goals: first, ensuring every American family has access to affordable and effective treatments; second, ensuring that our mental health parity laws are fully enforced so that insurance practices are not a barrier to substance abuse treatment; third, ensuring all first responders have access to naloxone, which stops overdoses from becoming fatal; and fourth, requiring that all health-care providers receive training in recognizing substance use disorders and consult a prescription drug monitoring program before providing opiates. Does this work for everyone? Thanks, Ann On Sun, Aug 16, 2015 at 4:58 PM, Ann O'Leary <aoleary@hillaryclinton.com> wrote: Hi all - Sorry I was out of pocket for a few hours. On a flight now to raise $$ for all of us in Oklahoma - the things we do!! Anyhow, here is the deal: (1) The American Academy of Pediatrics came out with a strong policy statement in 2011 <https://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/pages/AAP-Recommends-Substance-Abuse-Screening-as-Part-of-Routine-Adolescent-Care.aspx> that every child/teenager should be screened for substance abuse disorders when they visit the doctor for their annual child check up or for an accute care visit in which it might be suspected. HRC has a long history of working with AAP and supporting their efforts to do more screenings. When she was First Lady, she worked on the Newborn Hearing Screening to make sure all babies get hearing screenings, and in the last several years she has pushed for and supported the AAP's effort to screen young kids for symptoms of "toxic stress." This is not "mandatory," but it is part of prevention and wellness and it is about supporting the AAP in making this happen by raising awareness, making sure pediatricians get reimbursed for their time in doing these screenings, etc. I have tried to clarify with edits to the speech, pasted below and attached. (2) On Mandy's question about mental health parity, I have added a line. (3) On Karen's question of whether we reached out to urban leaders, we talked to a number of policy experts who serve urban communities. Maya is going to work with political to be sure we do political outreach to leaders in next 48 hours. (4) On Karen's suggestion, that she alludes to problems in her own family - I have modified accordingly. (5) On Nick's question about specialized care, we are good with it as Kristina noted - but let me know if you have further concerns. I am also attaching our final fact sheet. If all are good, we should get her this draft op-ed together with the fact sheet. Let me know if you have more questions or concerns. Thanks, Ann *DRAFT substance abuse op-ed* WC: 822 words I was on my first trip to New Hampshire this spring, in a Keene bakery, when a retired doctor spoke up. I had just announced I was running for president, and I had traveled to Iowa and New Hampshire to hear directly from voters about their concerns, their hopes, and their vision for the future. He said his biggest worry was the rising tide of heroin addiction in the state, the result of a wave of prescription drug abuse. He said hospitals were seeing more babies born addicted, that police officers were responding to more overdoses, that families were being torn apart. To be candid, I didn’t expect what came next. In several states, this issue crept up again and again – from so many people, from all walks of life, in small towns and big cities. In Iowa, from Davenport to Council Bluffs, people spoke to me about meth and prescription drugs, and scores of lives upended. In South Carolina, a lawyer spoke movingly about the holes in the community left by generations of black men who ended up imprisoned for non-violent drug offenses rather than getting the treatment they needed. These stories shine light on some harrowing statistics. Nearly 23 million Americans suffer from addiction, but in 2014, only 2.5 million were able to receive treatment at a specialized facility. Fifty-two million Americans over the age of 12 have abused prescription drugs, including one in four teenagers. In 2014, more Americans died from overdoses than car crashes. Enough is enough. It’s time we recognize as a nation that we have a quiet epidemic on our hands. Plain and simple, drug addiction is a disease, not a moral failing—and we must treat it as such. It’s time we recognize as a nation that there are gaps in our health care system that allow too many sufferers to go without care—and invest substantially more in prevention and treatment. It’s time we recognize as a nation that our state and federal prisons, where 65 percent of inmates meet the medical criteria for substance use disorders, are no substitute for drug treatment—and reform our criminal justice system. That’s why I’m releasing a comprehensive strategy [LINK] to confront the drug addiction crisis head-on. My plan sets four goals: first, ensuring every American family has access to affordable and effective treatments; second, ensuring that we work with pediatricians to be sure that every child and teenager is educated about and screened for substance use disorders as part of their annual doctor’s visit, just as we do for hearing, eyesight, developmental delays and so much more; third, ensuring all first responders have access to naloxone, which stops overdoses from becoming fatal; and fourth, requiring that all health-care providers receive training in recognizing substance use disorders and consult a prescription drug monitoring program before providing opiates. Achieving these goals won’t be easy. It’s going to take real commitment from all corners—law enforcement, doctors, insurance companies, schools, and governments. That’s why my plan starts by increasing funding for the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant by 25 percent, so states and localities have more resources to work with, and changing rules that arbitrarily limit how many patients can be treated with medication assisted treatment, a proven intervention for opiate addiction. I will also direct the federal government to re-evaluate Medicare and Medicaid payment practices, to remove obstacles to reimbursement for patients seeking help and promote greater coordination of care. And I will make sure that our mental health parity laws are fully enforced so that insurance practices are not a barrier to substance abuse treatment. But we can't stop there. As President, I will do everything I can to partner with states and communities across America to meet the four goals—treatment, prevention, overdose intervention, and improved prescriber practices. We’ll ask states to design ambitious plans for tackling these four goals using the programs that make most sense for their citizens’ needs and challenges. In return for strong plans to address the substance abuse crisis, the federal government will draw on a new $5 billion fund to help states meet their goals. Every town I’ve visited so far in this campaign has stories of families upended by drug addiction. But across the country, I’ve also heard about second chances. The young mother who overcame addictions to alcohol and heroin so her son would never see her with a drink or a drug in her hand. The man who served 11 years in prison who is now serving others through a prison ministry. They all say the same thing: no matter how much time has passed, no matter how different their lives are today, they’re all still in recovery. It’s a process—one that began when a family member, a friend, a doctor, a police officer extended a hand to help. As one New Hampshire woman said, “We're not bad people trying to get good, we're sick people who deserve to get well.” There are 23 million Americans suffering from addiction. There are untold millions more. No one is untouched – we all have family and friends who are affected. We can’t afford to stay on the sidelines any longer—because when families are strong, America is strong. Through improved treatment, prevention, and training, we can end this quiet epidemic once and for all. On Sun, Aug 16, 2015 at 3:57 PM, Kristina Costa <kcosta@hillaryclinton.com> wrote: On the screening point, will let policy get into details, but it's the major pillar of the 'prevention' goal. Would folks be more comfortable if it said something like [CAPS=ADDITION] "ensuring every child and teenager is annually screened for substance use DISORDERS, JUST AS THEY ARE ALREADY SCREENED FOR OTHER ILLNESSES"? schools and doctors regularly screen for all sorts of diseases, and substance abuse screening /= random drug testing. On the "specialized facilities," the stat comes from the NIH's National Institute on Drug Abuse and includes all facilities licensed or certified by state substance abuse agencies to provide treatment. So think it's easy to answer Politifact when they try to get cute. + Ann, per Maya's add On Sun, Aug 16, 2015 at 6:45 PM, Nick Merrill <nmerrill@hillaryclinton.com> wrote: I'm piling on at this point, but without knowing the background or the particulars, the mandatory testing piece is troubling to me. Not to mention I probably wouldn't have passed at times in my younger years...I bet I'm not the only one.* And on the statistic about 2.5 million people receiving treatment at a "specialized facility," can someone explain what that means? Just want to make sure we're not trying to be too cute, that there aren't perfectly viable treatment alternatives that lie outside of the term. Our friends from PolitiFact as always in the back of my mind. *(Joel?) On Aug 16, 2015, at 6:13 PM, Jesse Ferguson <jferguson@hillaryclinton.com> wrote: Flagging - goal had been to get this to HRC on Saturday night but it has been held till tonight as the other elements of the rollout (video, etc.) are debated. AKA - ideally would like to send it in tonight for her review so we can have final on Monday for Wednesday AM placement. ----- And one more thing. Should we mention the growing problem of synthetics? Mandy Grunwald Grunwald Communications 202 973-9400 >> On Aug 16, 2015, at 5:18 PM, Karen Finney <kfinney@hillaryclinton.com> > wrote: > > Last question/comment I promise - did we engage urban leaders in the > development of the plan? > > Sent from my iPhone > >> On Aug 16, 2015, at 5:15 PM, Joel Benenson <jbenenson@bsgco.com> wrote: >> >> Democrats are going to have a field day with it. It is also probably unconstitutional violation of 4th amendment, isn't it? >> >> Sent from my iPad >> >>> On Aug 16, 2015, at 3:10 PM, Karen Finney <kfinney@hillaryclinton.com> wrote: >>> >>> The only thing that stood out to me was annual drug screening for >>> children and teenagers, could see the GOP having a field day. Can we >>> explain that one a little more? >>> >>> Sent from my iPhone >>> >>>> On Aug 15, 2015, at 6:42 PM, Kristina Costa <kcosta@hillaryclinton.com> wrote: >>>> >>>> Folks -- >>>> >>>> At Dan's request, passing along a draft HRC op-ed to accompany the substance abuse prevention initiative fact sheet rolling out midweek. Maya, Ann, Sara, Zach, and Ian have all reviewed, edited, and commented. It's now with Tony/research for a fact-check before going up in the book. >>>> >>>> Thanks, >>>> >>>> Kristina >>>> <08.14 Substance Abuse Op-Ed ALL EDITS CLEAN.docx> -- Ann O'Leary Senior Policy Advisor Hillary for America Cell: 510-717-5518 -- Ann O'Leary Senior Policy Advisor Hillary for America Cell: 510-717-5518