Join Together, NAADAC -- the Association for Addiction Professionals, and Faces and Voices for Recovery (FAVOR) have contacted people in the addiction community to urge them to get in touch with their local officials and encourage them to join the caucus.

Nearly 60 U.S. House of Representatives members have joined the bipartisan caucus, which is being co-chaired by U.S. Reps. Jim Ramstad (R-Minn.) and Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.).

The Addiction, Treatment and Recovery Caucus was formed in March to educate and raise awareness among lawmakers about addiction and to increase legislative support for expanding access to treatment.

Since its formation, the caucus has gathered briefings on President Bush's Access to Recovery program to develop voucher-based addiction treatment programs, encourage addiction research and to promote national survey results on drug use.

Advocates have set of goal of enlisting 88 more representatives to join the caucus. "We're very encouraged," said Pat Taylor, executive director of FAVOR. "We're very excited about the growing attention to addiction treatment and recovery. It's an opportunity for recovery advocates around the country to build strong relationships with their elected officials to educate them about addiction treatment and recovery."

For 2005, the caucus plans to host a variety of briefings, including one on recovery high schools and colleges where schools set up environments that enable students to continue in recovery, and another on Pathways to Recovery in Wisconsin, an example of a best practice in treatment.

Take Action: Call the member of the U.S. House of Representatives in your district and urge him or her to join the caucus.

What You Can Do: For more information on the Addiction, Treatment, and Recovery Caucus, contact Karin Hope in Rep. Ramstad's office: 202-225-2871.

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