By Howard Koplowitz
on March 07, 2016 at 4:52 PM, updated March 07, 2016 at 4:59 PM

U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said he opposes a bill authorizing funding to address the country's opioid and heroin epidemic because he argued the legislation does nothing to stop drugs from coming into the United States.

Sessions, who said he was concerned that the country just may be beginning to experience a rise in drug abuse following 30 years of steep declines, added that the southern border needs to be secured and that the U.S. needs to hire more border security agents to stop the flow of heroin and methamphetamine from Mexico. The bill instead focuses on treatment and releasing offenders from federal prisons.

"I think we need to be careful of this," Sessions said Monday on the Senate floor about the bill, called the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act. "The solution: We got to control the border. All the heroin and a big chunk of the methamphetamine is coming across the Mexican border. ... We need to enforce our laws and we have to make the consequences of drug trafficking a deterrent."

A procedural vote on the bill easily passed the Senate shortly after Sessions's floor speech.

Sessions said drug offenders who would be released under the bill aren't capable of being self-sufficient.

"These people can't function. How are they going to survive? They either steal or they get on welfare," or go into drug treatment that they can't afford, the senator said.

He suggested that market forces, including increased accessibility, lower prices and half purity of heroin "appear to be the major drivers" of its increased use. But Sessions said the bill doesn't address those issues.

Sessions in part blamed President Barack Obama, saying the president hasn't been strong enough to discourage marijuana use. He said programs like Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" to drugs campaign helped turned the tide in the war on drugs.

"In truth, we've seen dramatic improvements in nearly 30 years, 25 years, in reduction of crime," Sessions said. "You got to have leadership from Washington. You can't have the president of the United States saying 'marijuana, it's no different than taking a drink.' It is different."

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