BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  SCR 8
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   March 21, 2013

                             ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON RULES
                                Nancy Skinner, Chair
                SCR 8 (DeSaulnier) - As Introduced:  January 14, 2013

           SENATE VOTE  :   28-0
           
          SUBJECT  :   Prescription Drug Abuse Awareness Month.

           SUMMARY  :   Proclaims the month of March, each year, as  
          Prescription Drug Abuse Awareness Month and encourages all  
          citizens to participate in prevention programs and activities to  
          pledge to "Spread the Word?One Pill Can Kill."  Specifically,  
           this resolution  makes the following legislative findings:

          1)In 2008, drug overdoses in the United States caused 36,450  
            deaths and 20,044 of these were from prescription drug  
            overdoses; and, overdose deaths involving opioid pain  
            relievers (OPR) have increased and now exceed deaths involving  
            heroin and cocaine combined.

          2)In 2009, 1.2 million emergency department visits were related  
            to misuse or abuse of pharmaceuticals (an increase of 98.4  
            percent since 2004); and nonmedical use of OPR costs insurance  
            companies up to $72.5 billion annually in health care costs.

          3)By 2010, enough prescription painkillers were sold to medicate  
            every American adult with a typical dose of five milligrams of  
            hydrocodone every four hours for one month; and in this same  
            year 2 million people reported using prescription painkillers  
            nonmedically for the first time with as many as 70 percent of  
            people getting them from a relative or friend instead of a  
            doctor.

          4)The National Coalition Against Prescription Drug Abuse, in  
            cooperation with law enforcement agencies, community-based  
            organizations, alcohol and other drug service providers, and  
            civic and business leaders, coordinates Prescription Drug  
            Abuse Awareness Month activities to offer our citizens the  
            opportunity demonstrate their commitment to campaigns and  
            education aimed at raising awareness about the abuse and  
            misuse of prescription drugs.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :   None








                                                                  SCR 8
                                                                  Page  2


           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :

           Support 
           
          National Coalition Against Prescription Drug Abuse (NCAPDA)
           
            Opposition 
           
          None on file.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Nicole Willis / RLS. / (916) 319-2800