The deadly opioid addiction crisis that is rife in the state of Massachusetts is aimed to be tackled now a bill has been approved by the Massachusetts House.
The bill, that was passed on March 9, will address the amount of drugs in first-time prescriptions and limiting them to a seven-day supply. There will also be set evaluation requirements within 24 hours for overdose victims seeking help at hospital emergency rooms, as reported in The Washington Times.
Reported late last year, deaths from opioid overdose increased in the U.S. according to a study published in the journal JAMA. Researchers found that there was a clear correlation between the rise in opioid overdose and the amount of the drugs being prescribed.
The hope is for further states to follow suit and pass similar bills to crackdown on the problem facing many people suffering from addiction in the U.S. House Speaker Robert DeLeo, stated that others had felt this bill would “serve as a template” according to The Boston Herald.
People from around the country, other governors, had stated they felt that this was a very good piece that probably would serve as a template for other states to follow
There is a particular emphasis on high-school monitoring where prescriptions are given out to students with head injuries and are often misused as a result. Schemes will be put in place to educate, prevent and treat drug addiction in public school children in the hope to tackle the problem. State Representative and chairwoman of the Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse Elizabeth Malia, describes the epidemic as a “public health crisis” and welcomes the joint efforts of the bill.
This public health crisis is unlike anything in this state most of us have ever experienced. The bill that came out of the conference committee combines the best of the House’s offering, the governor’s offering and the Senate offering.
As reported in Mass Live, the biggest problem is the excess drugs people have left over in their medicine cabinets. Since these drugs are prescribed so easily for toothache or sports injuries for example, people end up having an excess amount and are left open to misuse.
Now the bill has been passed, the hope will be to start seeing a solution to the problems faced by the state. The people who genuinely need these drugs for pain relief can continue using them safely while lessening the opportunity for addiction and misuse.
