Pallone Steps Up Call in Congress to Combat Drug Abuse

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06), Ranking Member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, continued his efforts to combat drug abuse, including the opioid and heroin abuse epidemics facing New Jersey. For a hearing entitled “Examining Legislative Proposals to Combat our Nation’s Drug Abuse Crisis,” he stated the importance of taking action to combat the epidemic. The hearing, in the Committee’s Health Subcommittee, reviewed several bipartisan bills to expand access to substance abuse treatment services, increase access to overdose reversal medication, improve provider education, and increase public awareness of the problems of substance abuse.

In his opening statement, Pallone began with the story of an Old Bridge, New Jersey resident: “She has already lost one son to the drug abuse crisis and she is fighting to save her remaining son’s life as he suffers from his own opiate dependence. Her younger son overdosed at the age of 21 and her older son – who was struggling with addiction when his brother died -- continues that struggle… I know such stories are not unique to New Jersey or my district. Unfortunately, most of us have heard similar stories from constituents, family members, or friends. Each day we are losing 44 people in the U.S. to overdose of prescription painkillers. We must take action to combat this epidemic.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has classified prescription drug abuse as an epidemic. 52 million people over the age of 12 in the U.S. have used prescription drugs non-medically in their lifetime, and approximately 6.5 million individuals in the U.S. were prescription drug users for nonmedical purposes in 2013. The effects are being felt throughout the country, and while New Jersey has the 11th lowest rate of prescription drug abuse, it is no exception. According to the most recent statistics, 3.9 percent of the state’s population over the age of 12 uses prescription drugs for nonmedical purposes. Furthermore, the number of drug overdose deaths in New Jersey – a majority of which are from prescription drugs – increased by 51 percent since 1999.

In July, the Energy and Commerce Committee passed the National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting (NASPER) Act, which Pallone coauthored. The program provides grant funding to states for prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs). PDMPs aid in combatting the growing prescription drug abuse epidemic by helping prescribers, pharmacists, and law enforcement officials track the misuse of prescription drugs.

Pallone’s full statement, as prepared for delivery, follows.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for calling today’s hearing. I want to start by sharing a story from one of my constituents from Old Bridge, New Jersey. She has already lost one son to the drug abuse crisis and she is fighting to save her remaining son’s life as he suffers from his own opiate dependence. Her younger son overdosed at the age of 21 and her older son – who was struggling with addiction when his brother died -- continues that struggle.

No mother should have to endure this tragedy – having grieved the loss of one son and being overwhelmed with worry that she could lose another to the opiate epidemic. I know such stories are not unique to New Jersey or my District. Unfortunately, most of us have heard similar stories from constituents, family members, or friends. Each day we are losing 44 people in the U.S. from overdose of prescription painkillers. We must take action to combat this epidemic.

That is why I am pleased that we are holding this hearing on several bills to combat this drug abuse crisis. I strongly support efforts to expand access to substance abuse treatment services, increase access to overdose reversal medication, improve provider education, and increase public awareness of the problems of substance abuse.

That is why I support -- H.R. 2536, H.R. 2805, H.R. 3680, H.R. 3691 and I would like to thank Representatives Tonko, Kennedy, Sarbanes, and Lujan for their leadership on this issue. I briefly want to mention that I have concerns with the remaining substance abuse treatment bill -- H.R. 2872, the Opioid Addiction Treatment Modernization Act. While I support the goal of expanding access to all FDA-approved medications for the treatment of opiate dependence and I support efforts to increase provider education and training generally – I believe we must pursue those goals in a way that does not undermine our efforts to expand access to substance abuse treatment services. I don’t think H.R. 2872 strikes the right balance and, as a result, could harm access to care.

There are also another two bills we will discuss today. H.R. 3537, which would place a number of synthetic drug substances on Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. Use of synthetic drugs has led to numerous overdoses and deaths, primarily among young adults. More must be done to eliminate the availability of these substances, and enable DEA to take appropriate enforcement action as H.R. 3537 strives to do. I am concerned, however, about whether the broad list of chemicals in the bill might include chemicals that can have legitimate research uses for developing important medical therapies.

The other bill, H.R. 3014, would allow registered physicians to transport controlled substances away from their registered practice locations to other locations, such as team physicians travelling to a game out of state, or physicians responding to a disaster in a neighboring state. I hope to work with stakeholders to ensure that the proper safeguards are in place to address this problem and maintain access to drugs for patients only when needed.

I look forward to hearing from all of our witnesses, and continuing the conversation about how to address the issue of substance abuse moving forward.