Page 18 - Addiction Problem News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

I've talked to senators in both parties who privately say they think they need another 6 billion or so to deal with what clearly is an epidemic. i think the president's point was let's get a better idea of the scope of the problem. get the federal government more focused. maybe they can put the money in the budget at the end of the year. the notable part was the president did something today he doesn't do very often. he got personal and talked about his older brother fred who had died in part because of a battle with alcoholism. and the president talked about struggles with addiction and it re...

Think they need another $6 billion or so to deal with what clearly is an epidemic. i think the president's point was let's get a better idea of the scope of the problem. get the federal government more focused. they have all these budget deals coming up at the end of the year. maybe they can put the money in the budget at the end of the year. the notable part was the president did something today he doesn't do very often. he got personal and talked about his older brother fred who had died in part because of a battle with alcoholism. and the president talked about struggles with addiction and ...

Is. a lot of people do having connections with this -- unfortunately, too many people have connections with it, and there are those that don't and just read the headlines. explain what it's like to be in the headlines? >> i see the broad scope of people that are affected by a single person who has an addiction problem, and from anybody that is in their family, any children they may have, their loved ones, whatever medical care they might need, it becomes a problem for them. you know, one person that is addicted affects such a wide scope of people, and then there are so many people that are aff...

The problems that i understand is that people start using again because they can't get jobs because they now have a criminal record, so is there anything that can be done in this national emergency need to come back to about back to that? >> speaking with jeff sessions. we have a diversion programs for people who are basically in the criminal justice system because they have an addiction problem, they are not violent, they are not big drug traffickers. the federal government actually does a pretty good job of combating this, this is a false issue that we are locking up people of color, we are ...

Minute it's. he's like, you can do this, you got this. he was staying in touch making sure i was doing the right thing. are you working today? yeah, i'm working. >> it can take an emotional toll? >> absolutely. you can get burned out doing this. my phone never stops ringing. people calling me 24 hours a day. i won't not answer that phone. >> it's making a difference in the overwhelming addiction problem in lucas county. elizabeth cohen, cnn. also, in puerto rico recovery efforts got everyone helping out even our four-legged friends. one dog's incredible cleanup story, next.