Issue Position: Addressing the Opioid Epidemic

Issue Position

New Jersey is facing an opioid crisis of epic proportion that is afflicting citizens of every race, gender, age, and socioeconomic status. The 1,600 overdose deaths in 2015 is almost three times the national average. Four out of every five New Jerseyeans addicted to heroin started with prescription painkillers, the majority of which were legally obtained. Opioid addiction not only puts the health and lives of those using at risk, but also creates strains on public safety efforts, law enforcement, the healthcare industry, community services, and the criminal justice system. Recent legislation signed into law by Governor Christie in February 2017 takes measures to limit initial prescription amounts of opioids to a five-day supply, as well as to mandate state-regulated insurers to provide coverage for substance abuse treatment for at least four weeks--and up to six months, if deemed medically necessary--without preauthorization. While these are important steps forward, we must pursue a bipartisan, multi-pronged strategy to most effectively address both the causes and effects of addiction, such as by:

- Empowering community leaders to be on the front lines of both preventing addiction and helping to facilitate treatment and support for those affected;
- Increasing holistic services in treatment to not only end addiction, but to also establish sustainable life changes and coping mechanisms to prevent relapse;
- Reinforcing support for investigations and prosecutions in order to hold doctors to account for over-prescription of opioids;
- Emphasizing on the dangers, signs, and symptoms of drug abuse in community outreach programs and education curricula from elementary school through college;
- Establishing guidelines for pharmacists that instituted verification requirements with the prescriber to ensure patients are not "shopping around" and doctors are comporting with the newly-enacted supply limits and exceptions; and, amongst others,
- Creating student-athlete programs to highlight the additional risks youth sport participants face in dealing with sports-induced pain management.

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