Prescription Drug Abuse is New Hampshire’s and the Nation’s Fastest – Growing Drug Problem.
- In February 2012, the New Hampshire Governor’s Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention, Intervention, and Treatment (Governor’s Commission”) released “A Call to Action: Responding to New Hampshire’s Prescription Drug Abuse Epidemic”, which includes sobering state data:
- According to the most recent National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2008-2009), New Hampshire’s young adults are abusing pain medication at a significantly higher rate than young adults nationwide. New Hampshire’s rate of non-medical use of pain relievers by 18 – 25 year olds is the second highest among the states and territories.
- Between 2008 and 2010, the percentage of individuals entering state-funded substance abuse treatment for oxycodone increased by over 60%, while admissions for alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, and heroin either decreased or remained constant.
- The number of New Hampshire deaths resulting from oxycodone has more than tripled since 2000. In 2010, methadone and oxycodone became the first and second leading agents in the cause of drug-related deaths in the state.
- Approximately one in five (20.4%) of New Hampshire high school students reported having taken a prescription drug without a doctor’s prescription at least once in their lifetime, while one in ten (10.4%) reported taking a prescription drug without a doctor’s prescription at least once in the last thirty days.
- One in three people aged 12 and over who used drugs for the first time in 2009 began with the use of a prescription drug for non-medical purposes.
- Over 70% of those who abuse pain relievers got them from friends or relatives while 5% obtained them from a drug dealer or the internet.
- Prescription drugs are second only to marijuana as the most prevalent drug of abuse.
- Overall, opiates represent 75% of all prescription drugs abused.
- Opiate overdoses are increasing due to abuse of prescription pain relievers.
- From 1997 – 2007 the per person milligram use of prescription opioids increased by 402%.
- In 2009, retail pharmacies dispensed 48% more prescriptions for opioid pain relievers than in 2000.
- SB 286 authorizes the Pharmacy Board to contract for the creation of a secure program to electronically collect controlled drug dispensing data from pharmacies. Registered prescribers and dispensers will be able to access the data system before writing or dispensing a controlled drug.
- SB 286 covers controlled drugs in Schedules II – IV, which include the vast majority of misused and abused drugs including stimulants such as Ritalin and Adderall; pain relievers such as oxycodone; and tranquilizers such as valium and xanax. SB 286 does not cover any other prescription drugs.
- SB 286 is an important tool to:
- Improve patient care by providing physicians and other prescribers with clinical information to avoid both under-prescribing and over-prescribing controlled drugs and by increasing referrals for addiction treatment;
- Reduce the diversion of controlled drugs; and
- Reduce controlled drug deaths.
- SB 286 protects patient privacy:
- Only registered prescribers and dispensers have access to program information and only then as it relates to a patient subject to treatment;
- The program is required to comply with all relevant provisions of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA);
- Program information is accessible to law enforcement only with a court order;
- SB 286 contains severe penalties for any person attempting to obtain or using program information in violation of the bill.
- New Hampshire is one of only two states that have not passed legislation to create a controlled drug prescription monitoring program. New Hampshire is surrounded by states that have implemented such programs, making our state a magnet for individuals seeking controlled drugs.
- Both ONDCP and the Governor’s Commission recommend the establishment of an electronic controlled drug prescription monitoring program as an important and effective strategy in the battle against the prescription drug abuse epidemic.
- There is federal grant funding to start the program and there will be user fees to maintain it once it is established.
- SB 286 expressly provides that no state funding may be used for the program and that if private funding diminishes the program can be terminated.
- The 19 House and Senate sponsors of SB 286 include members and leadership from both parties.
- Entities supporting SB 286 include:
- Members of the New Hampshire Medical Community: The New Hampshire Medical Society, the Pharmacy Board, the Board of Medicine, the New Hampshire Nurses Association; the Academy of Family Physicians; the New Hampshire College of Emergency Physicians; and the New Hampshire Hospital Association;
- The Governor’s Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention, Intervention, and Treatment;
- The Business and Industry Association;
- The Northern New England Poison Control Center;
- The Department of Health and Human Services;
- The Law Enforcement Community: the Attorney General, the Department of Safety, the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police and the New Hampshire Troopers’ Association;
- New Futures and New Hampshire Voices for Health; and Numerous Community Prevention Groups
- At the Senate public hearing on SB 286 more than 50 individuals and groups signed in support of the bill. No one signed in opposition.
- SB 286 builds on the thoughtful work done by the House on HB 332 in 2011.
