Bipartisan anti-drug bill survives latest test in Senate

WASHINGTON (AP) - Bipartisan legislation setting up federal grants to help communities battle heroin and illegally used opioids has cleared a Senate procedural hurdle and is moving toward likely approval this week.

Monday's 86-3 vote was the bill's latest step forward. It would establish grants to help state and local governments treat addicted prisoners, train emergency workers to use drugs designed to help overcome overdoses and carry out other treatment and prevention programs.

The measure is one of the few bipartisan efforts expected to bear fruit this election year. The House has yet to approve its version of the legislation.

Last week, Senate Republicans defeated a Democratic effort to include in the bill an immediate $600 million.

The legislation is aimed at an addiction problem that kills tens of thousands of Americans annually.