[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 17]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 23470-23471]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  NATIONAL ALL SCHEDULES PRESCRIPTION ELECTRONIC REPORTING ACT OF 2003

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                               speech of

                           HON. RAHM EMANUEL

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, October 5, 2004

  Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3015, the 
National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting Act of 2003. 
As a cosponsor of H.R. 3015, I recognize that this bill represents an 
important step in curbing the abuse of prescription drugs.

[[Page 23471]]

  According to the NIH's National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), an 
estimated 9 million people aged 12 and older used prescription drugs 
for non-medical reasons in 1999. Sadly the NIDA predicts that number to 
be on the rise. This problem is compounded by the fact that many 
doctors have a hard time discussing this matter with their patients. In 
a survey by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at 
Columbia University, 46 percent of physicians reported they find it 
difficult to talk with their patients about abusing prescription drugs.
  The National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting Act of 
2003 provides grants to establish state-run programs for prescription 
monitoring that will be administered and coordinated at the Federal 
level. This will allow physicians to monitor whether their patients 
have been abusing addictive drugs or acquiring addictive drugs for 
others, even if a patient has received prescriptions in other states. 
Additionally, this bill has the potential to significantly cut down on 
prescription drug abuse and to help physicians prescribe addictive 
medications to patients who really need them without fear that the 
patient will abuse the drug.
  Since my home state of Illinois instituted the Illinois Triplicate 
Prescription Control Program in 1961, the program has been successful 
in combating prescription drug abuse back home. Now it is time to build 
on that success by creating a federal network so that state programs 
can be coordinated nationally.
  Mr. Speaker, this is an opportunity for this Congress to recognize 
that the abuse of prescription drugs is a serious problem in this 
country. The National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting 
Act of 2003 is a large part of the solution.

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