2016 may go down as the year America finally woke up to the addiction crisis.
Just last month, President Obama signed the first comprehensive federal response to the epidemic, a bipartisan bill that dedicates new resources to prevention and treatment and treats addiction like the public health crisis that it is.
Maryland, Wisconsin and Massachusetts all passed laws this year related to Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs) to prevent thousands from falling into the cycle of addiction - and that will help treat those that still do. I'm very hopeful that California, the state with the most overdose deaths in the nation, will soon join them. Legislators there can save so many lives by approving Senator Ricardo Lara's SB482 when it comes up for a final vote this month.
None of this is enough, but at least it shows our elected officials finally realize the scope of this epidemic.
By now you've heard the numbers, but they are so staggering they bear repeating:
•Between 1999 and 2014, nearly half a million Americans died from an overdose of opioid painkillers (such as Vicodin and OxyContin) or heroin, also an opioid.
•In 2014, more Americans died of drug overdoses than in car crashes - making it the leading cause of accidental death in the U.S.
•Nearly 5 million of our friends and family are currently addicted to prescription opioids or heroin.
We know how to solve the problem. We just need the will to do it.
One evidence-based solution that we at Shatterproof have been pushing is for states to require their prescribers to use a PDMP to track a patient's prescription history. This will alert doctors to early signs of addiction, such as doctor-shopping. It will also prevent them from accidently prescribing a drug that could be lethal in combination with another drug the patient is taking. (For example, taking an opioid like Vicodin and a sedative like Xanax quadruples the risk of overdose.)
PDMPs exist in 49 states, plus the District of Columbia. But only 9 require their use. Studies show that when it isn't required, doctors rarely use them - and where they are required, they save lives. Kentucky saw a 13% decline in prescription opioids dispensed. New York saw a 9% reduction. Tennessee opioid prescriptions fell by 7%. And every percentage point reduction in prescriptions corresponds with a minimum 1% reduction in overdose deaths.
As referenced, more people are dying in California than anywhere else - 4,521 overdose deaths in 2014. Legislators in Sacramento have the chance right now to make a real difference, both for its citizens and all their fellow Americans. They can approve SB482, a bill that would require the state's doctors to use its PDMP, known as CURES 2.0. The full state Assembly is expected to vote on it this week.
By fully utilizing technology the state has already invested in, we can save thousands of California families from being shattered.
California legislators must show the leadership we as parents deserve. The bill passed through a key committee back in June, by a bipartisan vote of 16-0. Every member, Democrat and Republican, spoke in favor of SB482.
Addiction has destroyed too many lives already. All of us must do our part to reduce the toll. Our children deserve nothing less.