Each day, 115 people die in the U.S. from opioid overdoses. That’s nearly 42,000 deaths from opioids each year. This public health issue is now causing more yearly deaths than breast cancer and many more than prostate cancer. It has not been given the attention and federal action that it deserves.

While no one denies the criminal component of illegal opioid use, legislators must address the opioid epidemic in the same way as we treat other public health issues — by treating the disease. For three years, I’ve read about increased awareness of the looming national epidemic, but state legislators have been debating and developing solutions — state-by-state — for almost a decade. I urge Congress to look to the states for innovative solutions.