[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 16478-16479]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            OPIOID EPIDEMIC

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Missouri (Mrs. Wagner) for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Speaker, the world is an ugly place right now. It 
seems that at every turn there is another crisis--another barrier to 
peace and prosperity, another obstacle to fight, or another cross to 
bear. More of our citizens, women, children, and grandkids are turning 
to something--anything--to mute the pain and create a false sense of 
peace. Society has been infected by drug addiction, a disease fueled by 
a loss of hope.
  We see it on the news, we watch it online, we feel loss in our 
communities. This disease is killing our friends and neighbors. Last 
year alone, over 64,000 lives were lost. That is more casualties in a 
year than we saw during the height of the Vietnam war.
  And this is a war, too--a war being fought in the streets and in our 
homes. And we are losing. Mothers, sons, daughters, and fathers are 
dying--from the cold streets of major cities to the quiet fields of 
rural America--we are

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all feeling the effects of the opioid crisis.
  What can be done? That is a question I have asked countless law 
enforcement officials, doctors, nurses, addiction treatment 
professionals, and community leaders. There is no one solution to 
stopping the opioid epidemic in this country.
  This is a man-made disaster. We must face it head on with education 
and awareness, addiction and recovery services, funding, prescription 
drug monitoring programs, and prevention. We need to prevent our loved 
ones from being dragged into the abyss of addiction and hopelessness.
  According to the CDC, three out of four new heroin users report 
abusing prescription opioids before using heroin. There is an easy step 
each of us can take to help with prevention. We can get rid of our old 
opioid prescriptions at home. Why chance someone taking them? Why 
chance your loved one being a statistic?
  This year alone, 153 individuals in St. Louis County have already 
died of an overdose. How many of them started with prescribed opioids? 
How many started by taking prescriptions from a parent or a family 
member? If we could have saved just one of these lives by throwing away 
old prescriptions, then isn't it worth it?
  This Saturday, October 28, local law enforcement and the Drug 
Enforcement Agency will be set up all around the country and in our 
neighborhoods for National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. They are 
providing safe and easy locations for you to throw away unused 
prescription drugs.
  I have no idea how many people can, and will, be saved by this one 
simple act. But multiply this one act times thousands, and now we are 
getting something done. Mr. Speaker, this is an epidemic this Nation 
has never seen. This is a disease of our own making.
  This week, there is something we all can do. Think about your 
household. Go into your hidden cupboards and see if you have old 
prescriptions. I bet you do. Take them. Find your nearest drug take 
back location and throw them away.
  We need to restore hope in this fight, and it won't happen overnight. 
It will take work, prayer, patience, and vigilance. Hope can be 
restored. If and when we band together to fight this epidemic, it will 
happen.
  So let's restore a little hope this week. Let's all join the fight to 
end the opioid epidemic.

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