Sec. 2. Findings

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Congress finds the following: The abuse of heroin and prescription painkillers is having a devastating effect on public health and safety in communities across the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drug overdose deaths now surpass traffic crashes in the number of deaths caused by injury in the United States. In 2011, an average of about 110 people in the United States died from drug overdose every day. Law enforcement officials and treatment experts throughout the country report that many prescription opioid users have turned to heroin as a cheaper or more easily obtained alternative to prescription drugs.

Opioid pain relievers are the most widely misused or abused controlled prescription drugs (commonly referred to as CPDs ) and are involved in most CPD-related overdose incidents. According to the Drug Abuse Warning Network (commonly known as DAWN ), the estimated number of emergency department visits involving nonmedical use of prescription opiates or opioids increased by 112 percent, from 84,671 to 179,787, between 2006 and 2010. According to a report by the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors (commonly referred to as NASADAD ), 37 States reported an increase in admissions to treatment for heroin use during the past 2 years, while admissions to treatment for prescription opiates increased 500 percent from 2000 to 2012.

Addiction is a treatable disease. Discoveries in the science of addiction have led to advances in the treatment of substance use disorders that help people stop abusing drugs and prescription medications and resume their productive lives. According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy (commonly referred to as ONDCP ), approximately 22,700,000 people in the United States needed substance use disorder treatment in 2013, but only 2,500,000 people received it. Effective substance abuse prevention can yield major economic dividends.

Every dollar invested in prevention can lead to savings between $2 and $20. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, when schools and communities properly implement science-validated substance abuse prevention programs, alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug abuse are reduced. Such programs help teachers, parents, and health care professionals shape the perceptions of youths about the risks of drug abuse. Diverting individuals with substance use disorders from criminal justice systems into community-based treatment can save billions of dollars and prevent sizeable numbers of crimes, arrests, and re-incarcerations over the course of those individuals’ lives.

According to the Drug Enforcement Agency, more than 1,700 tons of expired, unwanted prescription medications have been collected over the past 3 1/2 years, following the enactment of the Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010 (Public Law 111–273; 124 Stat. 2858). Research shows that combining treatment medications with behavioral therapy is the best way to ensure success for most patients. Treatment approaches must be tailored to address the drug abuse patterns and drug-related medical, psychiatric, and social problems of each individual.

Different types of medications may be useful at different stages of treatment to help a patient stop abusing drugs, stay in treatment, and avoid relapse. Research indicates that combating the epidemic of opioid abuse, including abuse of prescription painkillers and, increasingly, heroin, requires a multi-pronged approach that involves reducing drug diversion, expanding delivery of existing treatments (including medication-assisted treatments), expanding access to overdose medications and interventions, and the development of new medications for pain that can augment the existing treatment arsenal.

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Pub. L. 111-273
124 Stat. 2858

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Sec. 2

Findings

Pub. L.Pub. L. 111-273

Stat.124 Stat. 2858

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