SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's senators were divided on a sweeping opioids bill that cleared Congress on Wednesday as part of a bipartisan effort to combat the growing prescription painkiller and heroin abuse crisis in the U.S.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, was one of two senators who cast "no" votes on the bill, which passed 92-2. Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., also voted against the measure.

Lee spokesman Conn Carroll said in a statement that the senator "did not believe the legislation was likely to help solve the problem, nor did he believe it was properly paid for." Carroll declined to elaborate further on what the Republican senator believes would be a better solution.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who voted in favor of the bill and championed several provisions in it, celebrated its passage with a news release calling the measure “critical legislation."

According to his office, Hatch helped win additions to the bill that encourage pain research, expand access to medication-assisted treatment, and limit Medicare Part D beneficiaries to one pharmacy and one physician for prescriptions.

In a speech before a congressional conference committee last week, Hatch said his home state had been "particularly hard hit by this epidemic."

In 2014, the most recent year available, Utah ranked seventh highest in drug overdose deaths in the nation, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. That year, 290 Utahns died from prescription painkiller overdoses — more than five people per week.

Legislators, health care providers and law enforcement officials in Utah have taken notice.

Utah Naloxone

At the start of the 2016 Legislature, a group of state lawmakers stood with Utahns affected by addiction to announce a group of bills targeting the crisis.

Those measures included expanding access to the overdose-reversing drug naloxone and legalizing needle exchanges. Lawmakers also authorized $250,000 in one-time funding for the state health department to fight opioid addiction.

In recent months, a program called Utah Naloxone — led by a pair of siblings who lost their brother to a drug overdose 19 years ago — has worked to make naloxone kits available without a prescription at pharmacies throughout the state.

Related

Federal infusion to help opioid and heroin addicts in Utah

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is giving $94 million to health centers to fight the opioid and heroin epidemic across the country.

And last month, an all-star panel of health care providers, law enforcement officials and patient advocates gathered at the Capitol to discuss how to tackle the crisis.

At that meeting, Salt Lake Police Chief Mike Brown said the problem "crosses every socioeconomic boundary you know."

"There are hundreds and hundreds of people that we see in that situation near the Pioneer Park area and shelter area," Brown said. "We’ve been unable to really measure the amount of crime that it takes to supply these habits, but I’m telling you, it’s huge."

Dr. Michael Jaffe, a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist with Intermountain Healthcare, said he left that meeting wondering how doctors can be better trained to deal with patients with substance use disorders.

"What we had in (medical) training was: 'How do you identify and kick someone out of your practice?'" Jaffe said. "It needs to be changed to: 'You have a problem and I'm not going to be prescribing you controlled substances, but I'm really here for you and here's the support system, the network, the alternative.'"

'Great step in right direction'

Odyssey House CEO Adam Cohen praised Congress' bill as a "great step in the right direction," citing its emphasis on treatment instead of jail time.

"There's been enough momentum that finally lawmakers in Washington are willing and able to act on it and agree on something as significant as this," Cohen said, adding that he was surprised the bill passed so quickly.

"It'd been talked about for probably three or four years," he said. "And then all of a sudden the House picked it up for a vote and then it went to the Senate, and they pushed it through."

Among other things, the bill authorizes federal grants to state and local governments to try alternative approaches to jail for opioid abusers; allows nurses and physician assistants to provide medication-assisted treatment; and encourages states to create prescription drug databases.

However, the bill doesn't include funding for the programs it authorizes, a sticking point with many Democrats.

The White House said in a statement that President Barack Obama would sign the bill because "some action is better than none," although Obama "won’t stop fighting to secure the resources this public health crisis demands."

"Congressional Republicans have not done their jobs until they provide the funding for treatment that communities need to combat this epidemic," the White House added.

Cohen said communities have a tough road ahead of them, starting with a lack of funding for treatment programs. In Salt Lake County, he said, uninsured patients who want to get into a residential treatment program must wait an average of three to six months.

Still, he's heartened by the response of local and national leaders.

"Regardless of your political affiliation or socioeconomic status, everybody knows someone who is addicted," Cohen said. "And we all know that something needs to be done about it." Email: dchen@deseretnews.com Twitter: DaphneChen_

Related topics