Sec. 2. Findings

294 words·~1 min read·/bill/114/hr/3719/ih/section-2

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

Congress finds the following: Prevention and intervention are the best investment. According to the 2012 National Survey on Drug Usage and Health, the percent of New Hampshire residents 12 and older reporting ever having used heroin has doubled since 2004, 1.2 percent in 2005 and 3.3 percent in 2011. The number of patients in New Hampshire admitted to State-funded treatment programs for heroin reached 1,540 in 2013, a major increase from the 805 reported in 2004. Prescription opioid users admitted rose from 213 in 2004 to 1,297 in 2013.

Drug poisoning (more commonly called overdose) is the number one cause of injury-related death in the United States and deaths involving heroin have been on a steady increase in recent years. In 2012, 28 States reported that the death rate for heroin overdose had doubled from 2010 through 2012. The increase doubled from 1.2 percent to 2.1 percent per 100,000 population, reflecting the number of deaths having increased from 1,779 to 3,635. The number of drug-poisoning deaths involving heroin was nearly four times higher for men (6,525 deaths) than women (1,732 deaths) in 2013.

The rate of heroin-related overdoses was highest among adults aged 25 to 44 from 2000 through 2013; this is a 2.8-percent increase from 1.9 to 5.4. In 2013, the Midwest and Northeast regions had higher rates (4.3 and 3.9 per 100,000, respectively). From 2000 through 2013, the age-adjusted rate for heroin-related drug-poisoning deaths increased in the Midwest region exponentially (from 0.4 to 4.3 per 100,000), increased more than 4-fold in the Northeast region (from 0.9 to 3.9), increased more than 3-fold in the South region (from 0.5 to 1.7), and doubled in the West region (from 0.9 to 1.8).

The greatest increase for drug-poisoning rates was seen in the Midwest region.