BILL ANALYSIS Ó ACR 26 Page 1 ASSEMBLY THIRD READING ACR 26 (Levine) As Introduced February 19, 2015 Majority vote ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes | |----------------+------+--------------------+--------------------| |Rules |11-0 |Gordon, Chang, | | | | |Burke, Campos, | | | | |Cooley, Dodd, | | | | |Jones, Mayes, | | | | |Rodriguez, Waldron, | | | | |Wood | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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 ACR 26 Page 2 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. 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 Analysis Prepared by: Nicole Willis / RLS. / (916) 319-2800 FN: 0000043 ACR 26 Page 3