Representative Hemakshi Gordy  Representative Hailey Mitchell  Representative Gabriella Velasquez  Representative Walter Osborne  Senator Alli Marney-Bell  Senator Alex Stoyanov-Roberts  HR. 2  115th Congress  First Session  In the United States House of Representatives    The A.N.T.I. O.P.I.O.I.D. Act  (“The Access to Naloxone, Treatment of the Incarcerated, Overdose  Prevention, and Increasing Opioid Information for Doctors Act”)    A Bill to​ combat the opioid epidemic through overdose prevention, treatment of  the incarcerated, and education.    GENERAL  Whereas​ 116 people died every day due to opioid-related drug overdoses in  2016;  Whereas​ one person dies every five hours in the U.S. from an opioid overdose.  Whereas ​42,000 people died from opioid overdoses in 2016, and the number  has increased since then.  Whereas ​overdose deaths cost the U.S. approximately $431.7 billion per year.    PRESCRIPTIONS  Whereas​ U.S. citizens make up about 5% of the global population but consume  about 80% of the global supply of all opioids and 99.7% of the global supply  of hydrocodone, a potentially deadly opioid; 

Whereas​ one quarter of patients given a short-term prescription for opioid  painkillers transition to long-term use;  Long-term use as defined as: using opioid painkillers for longer than 90  days, receiving at least 120 days’ worth of pills or more than 10 separate  prescriptions  Whereas​ 11.5 million people misused prescription opioids in 2016;  Whereas​ more than 3 in 5 opioid overdose deaths involve a prescription opioid;  Whereas​ reports by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention show that  there are enough opioids being prescribed to medicate every single adult in  America.    NALOXONE  Whereas​ naloxone puts the victim into withdrawal, giving medical personnel  more time to transfer the victim to the hospital and administer proper care.  Whereas ​police officers in Quincy, Massachusetts, have conducted 300  overdose rescues with naloxone since 2011. The police department has  reported a 95-percent success rate with overdose rescue attempts by police  officers.   Whereas ​naloxone is as non-toxic as water, leaving no possibility of addiction.  Whereas​ ​the FDA and the Office of National Drug Control Policy support  equipping first responders to help reverse overdoses.    PRISONS  Whereas​ incarcerated people who are given access to treatment options while  in prison are significantly more likely to seek more treatment once  released;  

Whereas​ addicted prisoners who are not given sufficient treatment are more  likely to continue criminal activity following release, become  reincarcerated, and die from overdose;  Whereas ​for every dollar states spend on treatment prisons save $3-$6 per  inmate because treated inmates are less likely to reoffend and become  incarcerated;  Whereas ​Methadone, a narcotic proven to successfully combat addiction, is the  leading successful treatment option for people across the country;  Whereas​ quitting an opioid addiction can result in severe withdrawal symptoms,  which require medication and treatment.     

 

Be it hereby enacted​:    1) That Congress urges the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), in order  to address the overprescription of opioids, to:  a) Provide for the development and dissemination of programs and  materials for:   i)

The training of health care providers, as a condition of  registration to prescribe or dispense opioids, on:  (1) The abuse and addiction risks of opioids  (2) Potential signs of abuse, addiction, and  doctor-shopping  (a) Doctor-shopping as defined as: seeing multiple  treatment providers during a short period of time  to procure prescription medications illicitly  (3) Safer and less addictive alternative pain treatment  methods 

ii)

Schools to include education on the potential for addiction  and abuse of opioids in the health education curriculum. 

b) Provide clear and focused requirements of warnings regarding the  dangers of opioids, abuse, and addiction that doctors must disclose  to patients when prescribing or dispensing opioids.  2) That Congress shall--  a) Supply all police departments nationwide with Narcan (naloxone)  kits  b) Implement opioid overdose training programs for police nationwide.  c) Provide the National Institute of Health (NIH) with funding to further  develop overdose treatment options, including overdose reversal  drugs for fentanyl. 

d) Provide immunity for healthcare professionals and pharmacists who  prescribe, dispense, distribute or administer overdose reversal  medications such as naloxone.   3) That Congress shall--  a) Provide the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services  Administration (SAMHSA) with proper funds to provide grants to  states to implement the State Targeted Response to the Opioid  Crisis program.   i)

These grants will be awarded to states and territories via  formula based on unmet needs for opioid use disorder  treatment and drug deaths. 

ii)

The State Targeted Response to the Opioid Crisis program  aims to address the opioid crisis by:  (1) Increasing access to treatment  (2) Reducing unmet treatment needs  (3) Reducing opioid overdose-related deaths through  treatment for addiction to prescription opioids and illicit  drugs such as heroin.  (4) Providing patients with Buprenorphine, which helps to  alleviate the symptoms of withdrawal and stop addicts’  craving for opioids.   (5) Providing therapy and counselling for patients. 

iii)

This program is free; therefore it is available to and will greatly  benefit low-income communities. 

b) Restore the authority of the DEA to oversee the actions of  pharmaceutical companies in order to ensure proper advertising  and manufacturing of opioids. 

4) That Congress shall provide federally funded treatment options for public  prisons that will--  a) Provide centers and programs within prisons to combat addiction  by:    i)

Providing Methadone for drug abuse to all prisoners addicted  to opioids, should they require it 

ii)

Providing group treatment options 

b) Provide the NIH with $150 million to conduct additional research on  effective quitting treatments, with or without drugs.  c) Allow any prisoner, regardless of sentence time, to participate in  treatment programs.  5) That expenditures shall be divided in the following manner:  a) The total cost of the bill will be $11.106 billion.  i)

Total cost of the education provision will be $1.5 billion.  (1) Training doctors will cost $1 billion per fiscal year.  (2) Enforcement of required warnings from doctors will be  funded by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). 

b) The total cost of the naloxone provision will be $1.506 billion.  i)

Supplying one naloxone prescription ($130) for each victim  will cost $6 million. 

ii)

$1 billion dollars will be allocated to implement opioid  overdose training programs for police nationwide. 

c) The total cost of the prison treatment provision will be $5 billion.  i)

Methadone treatment programs: $5000 per prisoner per year 

ii)

$5 billion of the total cost of this provision will be diverted  from therapy based treatment programs into the more  effective Methadone treatment programs. 

d) The total cost of funding SAMHSA is $750 million.  6) Funding for this bill will come from taxing opioid manufacturers;  a) 10% tax on production & 15% tariff on the importation of opioid  pills   i)

Mandate that prices of opioid pills remain the same and  increase only with inflation