* WARNING: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL, INTRODUCTORY COPY OF THE BILL.
THE OFFICIAL COPY CONSIDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE FIRST READER COPY.
INTRODUCTORY*
CITY OF BALTIMORE
COUNCIL BILL R
(Resolution)
Introduced by: Councilmember Holton
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
title
Informational Hearing - Prescription Drug Monitoring Program - Baltimore City Participation and Utilization
FOR the purpose of requesting the Commissioner of Health and the Police Commissioner to brief the Council on the anticipated impact of the State's Prescription Drug Monitoring Program on prescription drug abuse among the City's addicted and at-risk populations; on the recognition and treatment of prescription drug abuse as a primary or secondary addiction; and on law enforcement identification and apprehension of those who dispense as well as those who abuse prescription drugs.
body
Recitals
Prescription drug abuse is a growing problem in the United States and has been attributed, in part, to the increased availability of prescription drugs. State prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) address the problem by requiring pharmacies to log each prescription filled. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, when the State's Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) goes into effect in October 2011, Maryland will join 34 other states that now have operational PDMPs and 9 states and 1 U.S. territory, Guam, that have enacted legislation to establish a PDMP but are not fully operational.
Maryland's PDMP, passed by the 2011 General Assembly and signed into law by the Governor earlier this month, establishes the PDMP within the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to monitor the prescribing and dispensing of all Schedule II through V controlled dangerous substances. For each monitored prescription drug dispensed, a dispenser must electronically submit data to PDMP in accordance with regulations adopted by the Secretary. In addition, the bill establishes an Advisory Board on Prescription Drug Monitoring that must make recommendations to the Secretary relating to the design and implementation of the program, including regulations, legislation, and sources of funding. Law enforcement officers will be able to get a subpoena to access the information and investigate when probable cause is established.
Health officials have long pushed for a monitoring program for prescription drugs - a similar measure passed in 2006, but was vetoed - recognizing that prescription drug abuse in Maryland is increasing at an alarmingly rapid rate. Prescription for Disaster: The Growing Problem of Prescription Drug Abuse In Maryland, September 2005, State of Maryland Office of the Attorney General reports that prescription drug abuse is increasing more consistently and dramatically than illegal substance abuse, particularly in the narcotics analgesics category. "Overall illegal drug abuse did not change significantly between 2002 and 2003, and the use of some specific drugs declined, e.g., Ecstasy past year use rates fell from .3% to .2% and hallucinogen past year users fell from 4.7 million to 3.9 million. The number of lifetime non-medical users of pain relievers rose, however, from 29.6 to 31.2 million. Emergency department episodes involving narcotic pain relievers increased 45% between 2000 and 2002."
Statistics show that the problem continues to escalate: "A Comprehensive Approach to Prescription Drug Abuse and Diversion: Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Fact Sheet, DHMH, - Prescription Drug Use in Maryland:
· The percentage of prescription-drug-related admissions to Alcohol and Drug-Abuse Administration-funded treatment programs doubled between FY 2007 and FY 2011.
· Admissions for opiate-painkiller abuse increased 96% from FY 2007 to FY 2010, and by 124% as the primary reported substance-of-abuse. Bensodiazepines-related admissions also increased by 96% over these four years.
· Overdose deaths involving prescription opiates other than methadone increased by more than a third from 2007 to 2009, going from 20% to 30% of all intoxication deaths.
· In FY 2010, half of benzodiazepine and 60% of opiate painkiller-related admissions were under the age 18 or in their twenties."
Joined in a roundtable discussion with the nation's Drug Czar, and State Health and Law Enforcement stakeholders, the Governor said of Maryland's new PDMP: "Public safety is among our most solemn obligations as public servants, and preventing the abuse of prescription drugs - the fastest growing drug problem in Maryland - is a big part of our strategy to protect Maryland families. Thousands of Marylanders every year are suffering from the scourge of addiction. Our new program will link public health and public safety systems to know down the silos that currently block information-sharing and provide the knowledge that is essential to the health and well-being of the people of our state.
In May of last year, the White House announced that the federal government is expanding prescription drug monitoring programs and will link state systems as part of a national strategy to tackle America's drug problem of an estimated 20 million Americans currently using drugs illegally. As participants in the inaugural implementation of Maryland's new PDMP, Baltimore City has an unprecedented opportunity to access state and federal resources to dramatically impact our intractable drug abuse problem.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, That the Commissioner of Health and the Police Commissioner are requested to brief the Council on the anticipated impact of the State's Prescription Drug Monitoring Program on prescription drug abuse among the City's addicted and at-risk populations; on the recognition and treatment of prescription drug abuse as a primary or secondary addiction; and on law enforcement identification and apprehension of those who dispense as well as those who abuse prescription drugs.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the Mayor, the Health Commissioner, the Police Commissioner, the President of Baltimore Substance Abuse Systems, Inc., and the Mayor's Legislative Liaison to the City Council.
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