Senate Bill S379

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S379

SPONSOR: LANZA
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to
the distribution in counties with the most prevalent prescription opioid
abuse of educational materials regarding the misuse of and addiction to
prescription drugs

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

The purpose of this bill is to help to prevent the misuse or abuse of
prescription drugs.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Amends 19.09 of mental hygiene law by requiring the commissioner of the
Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services in consultation with
the Department of Health to create or utilize existing educational mate-
rials and make them available to pharmacists who may distribute them
with any prescribed controlled substance. Such materials shall include
information regarding the dangers misuse and the potential for addiction
              

to prescription drugs, treatment resources available, and the proper way
to dispose of unused prescription drugs.

The bill would also require the Commissioner to utilize data that is
available to the office in order to identify the counties in New York
State where prescription opioid abuse is most prevalent. At the
discretion of the commissioner, in collaboration with the department of
health, pharmacists may be notified about the prevalence of opioid abuse
in the county where the pharmacists are located, and strongly encourage
the pharmacy to utilize the educational materials created by this bill.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) taken in
2009 showed that nearly one-third of people age 12 and over that used
drugs for the first time began by using a prescription drug non-medical-
ly. The same survey found that over 70 percent of people who abused
prescription pain relievers obtained them from friends or relatives.
Additionally, it was shown in the latest Monitoring the Future Study,
the Nation's largest survey of drug use among young people administered
by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), of the drugs most often
abused, prescription drugs ranked second behind marijuana.

A contributing factor to the rise of prescription drug abuse has been
the common misperception that prescription medications are less danger-
ous than illegal drugs because they are FDA-approved. Many well-meaning
parents do not understand the risks associated with giving prescribed
medication to a teenager or another family member for whom the medica-
tion was not prescribed, or, they are not aware that youth are abusing
prescription drugs at all; thus, they frequently leave unused
prescription drugs in open medicine cabinets.

In 2011 the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) stated in its
Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Plan that a key factor to deterring
prescription drug abuse is educating the youth and their parents about
the dangers of misuse and abuse of prescription drugs. The ONDCP also
recommended that organizations such as local anti-drug coalitions and
pharmacies should promote and disseminate public educational materials
in order to increase awareness of prescription drug misuse and abuse,
and how to safely dispose of unused prescription medications. In 2012,
the New York State Department of Health (DOH) in partnership with the
Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) and the Phar-
macists Society of the State of New York (PSSNY) issued a letter to
pharmacies in New York emphasizing the vital role pharmacists play in
this goal. Their position gives them a unique opportunity to increase
the knowledge of their customers regarding the consequences that result
from the misuse of prescription medication.

This bill would help to prevent the misuse or abuse of prescription
drugs by providing pharmacists with educational materials that they may
distribute to their customers. Such materials would provide information
on the dangers of misuse, and the potential for addiction to
prescription medications. They would also provide information on how to
access treatment services and safely dispose of unused prescription
medications.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2018: S.4326 - Third Reading Calendar/A.3074-A - Referred to Alcoholism
& Drug Abuse
2017: S.4326 - Third Reading Calendar/A.3074-A - Referred to Alcoholism
& Drug Abuse
2016: S.8080 - Referred to Rules/A.881 - Passed Assembly
2015: A.881 - Referred to Alcoholism & Drug Abuse
2014: S.6725 - Reported to Finance/A.7837 - Passed Assembly

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

Undetermined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have
become law.