[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 101 (Tuesday, July 16, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S5706]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 COMBATING PRESCRIPTION DRUG ABUSE ACT

  Mrs. BOXER. Madam President, last week I introduced The Combating 
Prescription Drug Abuse Act, a bill to create a commission to recommend 
best practices for preventing and reducing prescription drug abuse. I 
believe this bill is a necessary step in addressing our Nation's 
fastest-growing drug problem, which has been classified as an epidemic 
by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
  An estimated 52 million people--20 percent of those aged 12 and 
older--have used prescription drugs for nonmedical reasons at least 
once in their lifetimes. Nearly one-third of people aged 12 and over 
who used illicit drugs for the first time in 2009 began by abusing a 
prescription drug. In 2008, the number of opioid pain reliever deaths 
throughout our population was four times higher than cocaine and heroin 
deaths combined.
  This epidemic ruins the lives of all segments of our population, and 
the problem is only getting worse, especially for women. Men are still 
more likely to die of prescription painkiller overdoses--over 10,000 
deaths in 2010--but women are tragically catching up. A Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention survey earlier this month found a 400 
percent increase in women dying from prescription painkiller overdoses 
between 1999 and 2010, compared to 265 percent among men. During that 
time, nearly 48,000 women died of prescription painkiller overdoses. In 
2010, prescription drugs were involved in 85 percent of the drug-
specified deaths among women. And for every woman who dies of a 
prescription painkiller overdose, 30 go to the emergency room with 
related complications.
  I applaud the unyielding work of the law enforcement and health 
provider communities in working to address this epidemic, but it is 
clear that we need to do more. My bill would create a 2-year, 30-member 
commission led by the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency and Food and Drug 
Administration tasked with issuing recommendations on how best to 
reduce prescription drug abuse.
  Other members of the commission include representatives from law 
enforcement, patient groups, pharmacies, dispensers, and community-
based organizations, just to name a few. Importantly, both local and 
Federal stakeholders must be included, from both law enforcement and 
health care. The commission would be required to hold at least two 
public hearings to receive input on best practices. The end product 
would be a report requiring specific recommendations, and again, local 
input is mandatory.
  The time has come to revive the conversation on this critical issue 
within and among our law enforcement and health care communities and 
across the Federal/local divide. I am proud that support for this bill 
is broad, ranging from the National Association of Drug Diversion 
Investigators and the Peace Officers Research Association of 
California, to the American Academy of Pain Management and the National 
Association of Chain Drug Stores. I urge my colleagues to support the 
Combating Prescription Drug Abuse Act.

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