Las Vegas Sun: Fight against fentanyl gets boost from Nevada lawmaker, Congress

When it comes to battling the fentanyl epidemic and opioid deaths, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are finding rare common ground.

“Everyone hears out of Washington how divided things are back in D.C., but this is an issue that’s clearly bipartisan,” said U.S. Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nev. “Fentanyl, substance abuse does not have an ‘R’ or ‘D’ behind it. It affects every community across this country.”

Lee is celebrating the signing of new bipartisan legislation authorizing $64 million through 2030 to combat substance abuse among youths after the program lapsed in 2023.

The funding is part of the Treatment, Recovery, Education, Awareness and Training Youth Act, introduced by Lee, which was included in the legislation that President Donald Trump signed into law this month. It passed the House with strong bipartisan support in a 366-57 vote; a companion bill unanimously passed the U.S. Senate.

“We’ve seen far too many of our neighbors, of our children, in Southern Nevada struggle with addiction and substance abuse,” Lee said. “It’s something that impacts our families, it impacts our schools, impacts our communities.”

The wide-ranging provision allocates money for everything from programs to increase awareness around the dangers of fentanyl to increasing access to opioid use disorder medications, Lee said.

The representative said it would also provide educators and social workers “with the tools they need to intervene early and save lives.”

“We are grateful to have the ability to provide more resources, awareness and prevention efforts for the youth here in Clark County,” said Novlette Mack, a program manager for PACT Coalition, a group combating drug abuse in Southern Nevada. “We believe that early intervention is necessary for children and their caregivers to prevent problems from worsening.”

From April 2024 to April 2025, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1,572 Nevadans died from a drug overdose. That’s a 6.8% increase from the year prior, while the rest of the United States saw a 25% drop in estimated deaths, according to the CDC.

Nevada also has one of the highest rates of illicit drug use among children 12 to 17, according to UnitedHealth’s analysis of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services data, at 8.5% reporting use over a month.

Michelle Costigan, who joined Lee for the news conference, manages a sober living community center operated by the Phoenix, a national nonprofit. But when she was working as a clinician, she said it was not uncommon to hear people report first using drugs in “early adolescence.”

“I’ve witnessed firsthand the difficulties that our community members face in not only getting into treatment, but also accessing the wraparound support and ongoing care they need to sustain long-term recovery,” Costigan said.

She said the program “has the potential” to improve access to resources, calling it an “important step forward” in addressing the country’s opioid crisis.

Stewart Powell, a program coordinator with the Phoenix, said he was in recovery from substance use disorder, which started in his youth. Powell also found the legislation encouraging.

“I don’t make a habit of dwelling on my past, but I can’t help but wonder that if in my youth, my journey would have been different if I had awareness and access to the types of resources that are enabled by the legislation,” he said.

Lee said losing key pieces of federal support means a reduction in services.

The new law also gradually increases the program’s funding from $10 million for the 2026 financial year to $15 million by the fiscal year 2030.

How much of the new funding will reach Clark County and for what purposes is still up in the air. The Department of Health and Human Services will soon release a request for grant applications, and Lee was sure she would write a letter of support for local organizations.

It’s much needed in her home state.

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that 22% of Nevadans ages 12 and older used an illicit substance in the past month — a rate that jumps to 31.9% among those ages 18-25.

“I’m so grateful that this lifesaving law will now better protect our children and train health care providers and educators on best practices for helping youth suffering from addiction,” Lee said in a statement announcing the legislation being signed into law.