SPRINGFIELD, Mo.– Congressman Billy Long made a stop in Springfield Thursday to discuss the ongoing opioid crisis.

He was a part of a roundtable discussion about the impact in Springfield, and what congress has done with the issue. 

In October, President Trump signed the “support for patients and communities act” into law and CoxHealth was awarded a $790,000 grant. Part of this visit was see how that money could be implemented to help fight the opioid crisis. Long also spoke about keeping drug manufacturers accountable.

Long said, “You know for years, we’ve been led to believe that opioids are not addictive, which we know that they are very addictive. And so it’s a multifaceted, it’s not a one shot cures all or one pill cures all, it’s a multifaceted approach we have to take in Washington.”

Long goes on to say that people for other states take advantage of Missouri’s lack of a drug registry that you find in Arkansas or Oklahoma.