Pubdate: Thu, 26 Jan 2017
Source: Hartford Courant (CT)
Copyright: 2017 The Hartford Courant
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/IpIfHam4
Website: http://www.courant.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/183

MALLOY ANNOUNCES LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS TO HELP CURB OPIOID EPIDEMIC

[photo] This Feb. 19, 2013, file photo, shows OxyContin pills arranged for
a photo at a pharmacy in Montpelier, Vt. (Toby Talbot / AP)

Flanked by commissioners from a half-dozen state agencies, Gov. Dannel P.
Malloy announced legislative pointed at prescription drugs, a dangerous
pathway to opioid addiction.

"Every city and every town in the country has been touched in some way by
substance abuse -- and in particular the growing prescription pain killer
epidemic. Our local communities are no exception. This is a complex crisis
that does not have one root cause, nor does it have a simple solution,"
Malloy said in a statement. "Addiction is a disease, and together we can
treat and prevent it. Our work on this front will not be finished until
our communities and our families are no longer struggling with the grave
costs of this illness."

The proposal during this legislative session calls for requiring
electronic prescriptions, aiding in the destruction of unused
prescriptions, allowing patients to refuse opioids, expand required
information on the risk of addiction and encouraging data sharing.

In recent years, efforts by the legislature, some proposed by Malloy, have
aimed at changing how opioids are prescribed, including enhancing a
prescription monitoring system and curbing initial prescriptions for acute
conditions to seven days.

"Nearly half of all opioid-related deaths in our country involve
prescription painkillers. While prescription painkillers have a place in
treating patients experiencing pain, it's important that they are
prescribed responsibly and safely stored," Department of Mental Health and
Addiction Services Commissioner Miriam Delphin-Rittmon said, who joined
Malloy, in a statement.
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