5th District Congresswoman Jahana Hayes will meet with members of the Litchfield County Opioid Taskforce this afternoon to talk about state and federal efforts to combat the opioid epidemic. More than 1,000 people died in Connecticut as a result of drug overdoses in 2017 and in 2018. Senator Richard Blumenthal introduced the Comprehensive Addiction Resources Emergency Act to confront the opioid and substance use epidemic. Under the CARE Act, Connecticut would receive an estimated $56.2 million per year, for the next ten years, in total funding to support prevention, treatment and recovery, outreach, support, and harm reduction services for people with substance use disorders and their families.