BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



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          Date of Hearing: March 9, 2015 


                             ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON RULES


                                    Gordon, Chair


          ACR  
                    26 (Levine) - As Introduced  February 19, 2015


          SUBJECT:  Prescription Drug Abuse Awareness Month.


          SUMMARY:  Proclaims the month of March 2015 as Prescription Drug  
          Abuse Awareness Month and encourages all citizens to actively  
          participate in prevention programs and activities, and to safely  
          store and dispose of their medications on a continual basis.   
          Specifically, this resolution makes the following legislative  
          findings:  


          1)Drug overdose was the leading cause of injury and death in  
            2012, and among people 25 to 64 years of age, drug overdose  
            caused more deaths than motor vehicle traffic crashes. Every  
            day in the United States 120 people die as a result of drug  
            overdose, and another 6,748 are treated in emergency  
            departments for the misuse or abuse of drugs.


          2)Nonmedical use of prescription painkillers costs health  
            insurers up to $72.5 billion annually in direct health care  
            costs; and overdose deaths involving opioid pain relievers now  
            exceed the number of deaths from heroin and cocaine combined.


          3)During the last National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, the  
            United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) collected  
            617,150 pounds (309 tons) of unwanted medication.









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          4)The 2014 National Drug Control Strategy supports California  
            acquiring a sustainably funded and well publicized statewide  
            medication take-back system that is much more convenient to  
            consumers than the current one-day events or disposal at  
            hazardous waste facilities.


          5)Families, schools, businesses, faith-based communities, law  
            enforcement, medical professionals, county and local  
            governments, health care practitioners, and pharmacists in the  
            state, and the general public will demonstrate their  
            commitment to the prevention of prescription medication abuse  
            by participating in activities intended to highlight local  
            efforts during the month of March.


          FISCAL EFFECT:  None


          REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:


          Support




          RxSafe Marin


          Opposition


          None on file


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











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