U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell is considering how Kentucky should fight its burgeoning heroin epidemic.
After hearing testimony from Northern Kentuckians on Friday (March 7), McConnell told reporters he supports a strategy that combines incarcerating drug offenders, then placing them into addiction treatment programs.
“The conclusion you draw from listening to the experts, some emphasize treatment, some talk about incarceration. I think it probably takes a combination of both. We know this is a scourge, and it’s been particularly challenging here in Northern Kentucky,” said McConnell.
Republican Northern Kentucky state Senator Katie Stine, who also attended the discussion, has filed a bill in the state legislature that would use money from the Affordable Care Act to fund opiate addiction treatment in the Commonwealth.
