BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 831
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Date of Hearing: May 1, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 831 (Bloom) - As Amended: April 3, 2013
Policy Committee: HealthVote:15-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Health and Human Services Agency (HHS) to
make grants to local agencies for drug overdose prevention and
treatment, as specified and also requires HHS to convene a
temporary working group to develop a plan to reduce the rate of
fatal drug overdoses.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)This bill appropriates $500,000 from the General Fund for the
HHS grant-making provisions.
2)Administrative costs to HHS are estimated at approximately
$60,000 for FY 2013-14, $100,000 for FY 2014-15, and ongoing
costs of $45,000 to $50,000 until grant funds are expended.
This includes staff costs for initial implementation and
ongoing oversight. The temporary working group is to be made
up of staff from various departments and agencies, plus other
experts who participate on an uncompensated basis.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . According to the author, on average, 10
Californians die of drug overdose every day and, in 2009,
3,500 Californians died from preventable drug overdose, more
than in motor vehicle accidents. Drug overdose is now a
leading cause of accidental death in California and the
nation. The author seeks implementation of evidence-based
interventions to reduce the fatal overdose rate including
increasing awareness on how to prevent overdose, education on
how to provide first aid in the event of overdose, and making
the antidote to opiate overdose, naloxone, more widely
AB 831
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available.
2)Prior Legislation . SB 767 (Ridley-Thomas), Chapter 477,
Statutes of 2007, the Overdose Treatment Liability Act (Act)
established a pilot overdose prevention project in the
counties of Alameda, Fresno, Humboldt, Los Angeles, Mendocino,
San Francisco, and Santa Cruz, all of which already had
existing overdose prevention programs in place through their
local syringe access and disposal programs. SB 767 also
provided limited immunity from civil and criminal penalties
for licensed health care providers who use naloxone as part of
a treatment program, as specified.
AB 2145 (Ammiano), Chapter 545, Statutes of 2010, extended the
liability protection to third parties who administer naloxone
and sunsets the pilot projects on January 1, 2016. Data
reported by participating pilot counties since AB 2145 took
effect shows that the projects have achieved a 98% rate of
success in overdose reversals and no evidence of any adverse
events associated with administration of naloxone.
3) Support . Numerous organizations support this bill
including advocates for drug treatment, public agencies,
treatment centers, and hospitals. There is no known
opposition. Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), this bill's
sponsor, points to the success of programs that use
naloxone but states that funding is insufficient and the
state has not created a plan to address the growing crisis.
DPA cites studies and reports showing the
cost-effectiveness of model programs including marked
decreases in overdose and drug abuse. In just one example
from San Francisco, which has the most comprehensive
overdose prevention project in the state, DPA provides
estimates of the decrease in heroin overdoses from about
160 in 1996 to less than 10 each year by 2010. Savings for
the medical examiner alone are more than $1.75 million
annually, while the cost of the overdose and prevention
project is $70,000 to $100,000 annually.
Analysis Prepared by : Debra Roth / APPR. / (916) 319-2081