Expand access to lifesaving overdose prevention programs

Congresswoman Donna F. Edwards (D-MD) has introduced a federal overdose bill with five co-sponsors. The Drug Overdose Reduction Act (H.R. 2855) does six things:

1) Creates a $27 million a year federal grant program to provide cities, states, tribal government and community-based groups with funding to prevent and reduce drug overdose deaths - with an emphasis on naloxone distribution.

2) Tasks the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with responsibility for reducing overdose deaths, including developing a national strategy.

3) Creates a new sentinel surveillance system to better track overdose deaths across the country, including an internet database that is accessible to the public.

4) Creates a $5 million a year grant program to improve surveillance capabilities at the local and state level.

5) Creates a $5 million a year NIDA grant program to fund studies on causes of overdose deaths and the efficacy of various strategies to reduce drug overdose deaths.

6) Requires NIDA to support research on the development of dosage forms of nalxone specifically intended to be used by lay persons.

The next step is getting as many members of Congress as possible to cosponsor the bill. Please take 2 minutes to send a letter to your Member of Congress.

February 10, 2010

Subject:

Dear Member of Congress

Drug related overdose is the second leading cause of accidental death in the United States. While much attention has been paid to HIV prevention and substance abuse treatment, overdose has been largely overlooked as a public health concern, but is generating more and more attention in the wake of overdoses among celebrities and growing numbers of prescription overdoses nationwide. Overdose fatalities have risen dramatically in the United States since 1999, largely because of prescription drugs. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, unintentional poisoning deaths -- between 1999 and 2004 overdose deaths increased 62.5% across the country with the largest increases among 15-24 year olds (113.3%) during that five year period. Many of these deaths involved prescription narcotics that have become more and more accessible to young people. Despite these trends, fatal overdose can be prevented. People survive drug overdoses because someone was there to recognize the overdose and was willing and able to respond to save that person’s life. Successful programs in San Francisco, Chicago, Baltimore, New York City, and New Mexico approach the problem of drug overdose by empowering people who use drugs to take care of themselves and their peers. These programs educate drug users about risk factors for overdose, train drug users on rescue breathing and calling 911, and provide drug users with naloxone, an opioid antagonist medication used by first responders and emergency rooms to reverse overdose. Since the inception of San Francisco's Naloxone Distribution Program in 2003, for example, over 1265 individual prescriptions for naloxone have been distributed and due to the administration of naloxone, a reported 312 lives have been saved. Such efforts must be expanded to fix this nationwide health crisis. To this end, I urge you to cosponsor the H.R. 2855: The Drug Overdose Reduction Act, that would create a federal grant program to provide cities, states, tribal governments and community-based groups with funding to prevent and reduce overdose deaths; task the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with responsibility for reducing overdose deaths; commission studies on the efficacy of various strategies to reduce overdose deaths; and create a nationwide surveillance system for monitoring overdose trends. Overdose is an issue that affects many families. I strongly recommend you support this lifesaving effort.
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