live coverage begins friday it 10:30 a.m. eastern. u.s. attorney general william barr appears before the oversight hearing on the justice department. tuesday, july 28. watch live coverage of the mnuchin hearing friday at 10:30 a.m. eastern. listen on the go with the c-span radio app. washington journal continues. host: beth connelly studies opioid use prevention and thetment in her role as project director at the pew charitable trust. y, oneonnol headline on the opioid pandemic during the coronavirus pandemic, opioid overdoses are skyrocketing as covid-19 sweeps across the u.s. and the old epidemic returns. can you describe what we are seeing and what the data shows pond opioid use in the past four

months? crisisthe opioid overuse has been exacerbated by covid-19. 2 million people have an opioid abuse disorder. people are 10 actually able to receive treatment for their opioid use disorder. because of covid, people are isolated, people are not able to reach their support systems, and being alone has complicated people's ability to be connected and connect to their treatment and support systems. the numberown that of opioid overdoses has increased. we are hearing that from a number of states. host: towards the beginning of social distancing and when things were being shut down

there was perhaps some hope that social distancing and the closing of borders and more enforcement might disrupt a drug supply chain for dangerous opioids. has that been the case at all or was that a misplaced hope? guest: we have been studying att, we have been looking the treatment and availability of treatment. when a public health emergency was declared, the federal government did allow flexibility to states to increase the availability of treatment, evidence-based treatment is a key for opioid abuse disorder. time ofre is a emergency there are often increases. gotten increases after deepwater horizon, superstorm sandy, and the coronavirus is no different. the federal government allows states flexibilities in offering

treatment in ways that were not offered before. methadone,mple is people use methadone to treat opioid abuse disorders, were required to go through an opioid abuse program every day to pick up their medication. canr the flexibility people take home up to 20 days of medication, thereby not having public and interact with a practitioner or provider to receive their medication. used to have counseling and psychotherapy in person now are able to utilize this via zoom like we are doing now, over the telephone, facetime, this has created more access to treatment for people who have been impacted by opioid abuse disorder. host: are people using that

access? we had a call or a month or two ack saying that -- caller month or two back saying that the group session she was going to does not work over zoom. there is nothing like walking into a room for a support group, and she was thinking about not going to those zoom support meetings. what have you found in terms of people making use of that ability? guest: we have heard from a number of states, localities, and providers that they have been expanding their use of ,elemedicine and use of zoom and the flexibility the federal government has offered. in the seen an uptick people that are actually using these telemedicine options. when you have the ability to use telemedicine, you

employment is not impacted, you don't have to worry about transportation, childcare needs are not as compounded as when you have to do on in person visit. are working with their practices with telemedicine. there are some reports that some had to start from scratch and build it up, and others had been using telemedicine before and have been expanding their use of telemedicine to help more people. host: we are asking viewers to share their stories. as we talk to beth connoly of the pew charitable trust, studying substance abuse prevention and treatment initiatives. a special line for those who have been impacted by the opioid epidemic, (202) 748-8002. if youse (202) 748-8000 are in the eastern or central time zones. (202) 748-8001 for those who are in the mountain or a time

zones. the u.s. congress has appropriated between 2.6 and $3 trillion for the coronavirus response. how much money within that is specifically targeted for funding the opioid epidemic amid the pandemic? more than $400 bylion has been provided congress to the substance abuse and mental health services a federaltion, samsa, agency. that goes through them and is distributed to the state in order to address the opioid crisis in light of covid. host: what are some ways that money can be used? primarily for treatment, to increase treatment for opioid abuse disorder, decreasing

theiers, implementing flexibility that i spoke of, and to increase treatment for people recognizing that there has been an increase in opioid overdoses. host: is there other money that is being cut for programs that are not seeing the support amid the total focus of moving the government towards responding to the pandemic? the guardian story notes, a former director of the west virginia office of drug control policy, in the story he points to a federal health institution that shifted its focus to coronavirus, including freezing $1 billion in a research project that had been aimed at finding a less addictive pain treatment, this is his quote. "it has rob the oxygen out of the room and made the coronavirus the sole focus of what is happening. there is also fatigue about the

opioid crisis. you can think of covid-19 as a hurricane whereas the opioid crisis is like global warming. it is not happening at the same speed and scale of coronavirus now."now or can -- right governmentederal acted quickly in offering flexibility to address this issue for people needing to be social distant -- socially distant, allowing access to medication in a way they never have. there has been a goal of making sure treatment is available. this is evidence-based treatment. waynow that the best to treat opioid abuse disorder is through medication. medication has been proven to be far better at daily recovery than an abstinence-based program.

there is medication to treat opioid abuse disorder, methadone the federalne, and relaxation and flexibility has seen an increase in access to treatment. host: plenty of calls for you this morning. the connolly with us until bottom of the hour. john is up first out of new york on the line for those impacted by the opioid epidemic. john, good morning. to say i would just like that it saved my life by me not being able to get it on the streets anymore. i was forced to go through withdrawal and i have not touched anything since, thank you. host: thanks for sharing your story. beth: thank you so much. , on thath connolly aspect of the impact of coronavirus here and social distancing. beth: social distancing really

has created isolation for people because they have lost some of their support systems, people who use drugs may use drugs alone and not have access to support, if they overdose. the increase in telemedicine has helped to beef up that support system so people can access care. host: felix out of hope mills, north carolina. good morning. caller: good morning morning, how are y'all? beth: good morning. caller: i have a very specific question. i am 100%n, physically disabled and my chronic pain is around eight to 10. i have 13 vertebrae and 15 discs not including the other appendages that are messed up. theve been on opioids under eyes of competent medical personnel for 35 years with no

problem. when the opioid epidemic came along when people started going to doctors instead of drug dealers, getting things that were contraindicated, they started these drug tests. that is what my specific question is. screens thate drug are done by non-fda approved doctors, how is a person in my position supposed to challenge a test when it comes back for a substance i am allergic to and they change my medication from 60 milligrams of morphine a day to 75 milligrams of morphine when i see the doctor every 28 days. when the test comes back with a false positive i am cut off immediately. that leaves people in my position -- i am only going to tell you our position, which means we either go to the street and grab heroin, fentanyl, or contemplate suicide without proper conditions.

what do we do to challenge a questionable result on the test? we don't even know about it for 20 days or so. host: thanks for the question. is that something you have studied? beth: this is not an area we studying. i thank you for sharing this and i am sure other people will benefit from you sharing what you are feeling. to yourend talking health care community providers and other providers in your area. host: mike in union city, indiana. good morning. -- taking opioids away from people who need it and causing people to go to the streets to get what they need. you are hurting people by take a from them. some people do need them and

some people do play with them. the people that need them ought to be able to get them. they should not have to go to the streets to get it. host: we get this comment a lot, how do you find that balance? beth: thank you, collar, for your question. workingnce is around with your health care provider to ensure that you are receiving the treatment you need and there is treatment for opioid abuse disorder that a provider who has evidence-based treatment available to you is the best -- they have proven to be the best in adjusting this. having this conversation with beth connolly of the pew charitable trust. you can see the capitol building

over my shoulder. i want to talk about legislation that is waiting to happen on capitol hill. you talk about the mainstreaming addiction treatment act, we show viewers a little bit about that act. beth: sure. the mainstreaming addiction --atment act is tore are three medications treat opioid abuse disorder. in order for a doctor or nurse practitioner or physician's assistant to prescribe this drug in an office-based setting, making it easily available to those who need it, they must receive a waiver from the federal government. there is no other prescription medication that requires this type of waiver. this type of waiver creates a disincentive for doctors to obtain the waiver and not provide the treatment.

provide thisng to drug to expand access to treatment we need to get rid of the waiver. this would do just that. it would eliminate the waiver and allow doctors who prescribed all kinds of drugs in their setting, in their office-based drugng, to provide this which is safe and effective and was approved by the fda in 2002 and has been used effectively to treat opioid abuse disorder. host: how much support is there for this, is it being put on the back burner amid the coronavirus legislation and issues being tackled? beth: there is bipartisan support for this bill in the house and senate. we hope that it will keep continuing on this trajectory until it successfully passes and is signed into law. host: is there other legislation that is waiting for action in

congress that you want to point out? beth: there is legislation that would allow for medicaid to be reimbursed for people who are in jails and prisons, 30 days prior to their release. this piece of legislation would help people access treatment as they leave and reenter their communities. people that about 50% of who are in prisons or jails actually meet the criteria for substance abuse disorder. we are connecting them with medicaid in order to connect them with treatment. there is a high risk of overdose and death as people exit correctional institutions. >> c-span's "washington take yourevery day we

calls on the air on the news of the day and discuss policy issues that impact you. discussioneek, and a on schools planning to reopen. the founder and clinical director of urgent care talks about the spike in coronavirus cases around the country. live "washington journal," at 7:00 a.m. eastern this morning. >> live thursday on the c-span networks, the house homeland security subcommittee investigates the threats posed by militia extremists. 10:00 a.m. on c-span. 2:00 p.m. congressional black caucus chair speaks at the national press club. 45 housen2 at 10:

speaker nancy pelosi holds her briefing. at new, a subcommittee looks into mortgage protections for homeowners through the cares act. traveled to trump georgia to speak about infrastructure and his administration's latest move to relax environmental regulations in order to streamline the approval process for construction projects. it took place at atlanta's international airport. atlanta's international airport. ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, please c.e.o. of u.p.s.