Do the Feds Need to Provide Grants to Enhance Awareness About Heroin and Prescription Drug Abuse? (H.R. 2805)

What is H.R. 2805?

(Updated July 19, 2017)

This bill would implement several policies aimed at reducing the prevalence of heroin and prescription opioid abuse. It would also reauthorize and create grant programs to track the prescription of opioids, prevent addiction, improve overdose responses, and extend existing drug education programs.

An existing program that gives grants to states to set up, implement, and improve electronic reporting programs that log opioid prescriptions to identify patients at risk of addiction. The purpose of this is to initiate interventions when appropriate to prevent addiction from developing in the first place.

In order to improve the preparedness of local first responders around the country, a grant program focused on training to administer counter-overdose medication would be created.

An interagency taskforce would be established to develop best practices for pain management and prescription of pain medication. It would include the Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Dept. of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Dept. of Defense (DOD), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). These entities would be required to deliver a report to Congress within 270 days of being formed.

The ONDCP would be directed to establish a national drug awareness campaign focused on the link between prescription drug abuse.

Another existing program that would be reauthorized by this legislation is the Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Program. It provides funding for law enforcement programs, prosecution and court programs, drug treatment and prevention programs, and technology upgrades.

Argument in favor

Heroin and prescription drug abuse is becoming an epidemic in the U.S., and Congress should do whatever it can to counteract and reverse that trend by empowering states and expanding treatment.

Argument opposed

While prescription opioids will remain a problem whether this bill becomes a law or not, more needs to be done to stop the flow of heroin into the U.S. This bill doesn’t address that aspect of the crisis.

Impact

People who are or could become addicted to heroin or prescription opioids, first responders, agencies providing education materials and addiction reduction services, and federal agencies involved in the interagency task force.

Cost of H.R. 2805

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: This bill was introduced with bipartisan support from Rep. Susan Brooks (R-IN) and Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D-MA). Rep. Brooks cited the appalling death toll that these drugs have taken on the American public:

“We lose 45 Americans every day to prescription drug abuse while the number of heroin related deaths in the United States has continued to increase dramatically… We must ensure prescribing physicians, pharmacists, first responders, law enforcement officials and so many others on the frontlines of this battle have the guidance and support they need.”

Currently this bill has 21 cosponsors in the House, and that support is fairly evenly divided with 10 Democratic and 11 Republicans having signed on to the legislation.

Of Note: Heroin abuse has skyrocketed in recent decades, as overdose deaths quadrupled between 2002 and 2013, while the use of the drug increased by 63 percent over that period.

According the the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) drug abuse division, this is largely due to the increase in use of prescription opioids which are themselves highly addictive. If a person becomes addicted to those prescription drugs, a switch to heroin sometimes occurs because of the similarity between the substances, and the prevalence of heroin on the black market.

Media:

• Sponsoring Rep. Susan Brooks (R-IN) Press Release
• MassLive
• Taunton Daily Gazette