SENATE MEMORIAL 80
50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2012
INTRODUCED BY
Bernadette M. Sanchez
A MEMORIAL
REQUESTING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO'S ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION CENTER FOR HEALTH POLICY TO CONTINUE THE WORK OF THE DRUG POLICY TASK FORCE IN ORDER TO COMPLETE ITS COMPREHENSIVE STATEWIDE STRATEGIC PLAN BASED ON THE FOUR-PILLAR APPROACH.
WHEREAS, the forty-ninth legislature passed Senate Memorial 33 requesting the university of New Mexico's Robert Wood Johnson foundation center for health policy to create a drug policy task force to evaluate New Mexico's approach to alleviating the negative consequences associated with the use of alcohol and other drugs; and
WHEREAS, in the first session of the fiftieth legislature, the senate passed Senate Memorial 18, which continued the drug policy task force's work during the 2011 interim; and
WHEREAS, the drug policy task force met often during the 2010 and 2011 interims, inviting designees appointed by the New Mexico legislative council; representatives from the office of the governor, the office of the lieutenant governor, the corrections department, the department of health, the children, youth and families department, the human services department, the public education department, the legislative finance committee, the DWI grant council, the aging and long-term services department, county detention facilities, the administrative office of the courts, the department of public safety, the interagency behavioral health purchasing collaborative, the behavioral health planning council, the university of New Mexico, the New Mexico association of counties, the drug policy alliance and the New Mexico women's justice project; two individuals with criminal drug convictions; and two individuals in recovery from substance abuse; and
WHEREAS, the drug policy task force used a four-pillar approach to examine prevention, treatment, harm reduction and enforcement in order to develop strategies for effective change in New Mexico's drug policy; and
WHEREAS, the task force analyzed current approaches to drug policy and made recommendations on prevention and treatment; and
WHEREAS, the drug policy task force was directed to compile a list of expenditures for prevention, treatment and harm reduction and an assessment of the effectiveness of current programs; and
WHEREAS, the task force was directed to develop a list of evaluation measures to include the impact of drug abuse on youth, rates of drug overdose fatalities, rates of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis, access to treatment, the number of incarcerated, nonviolent drug law offenders, access to alternatives to incarceration and racial disparities exacerbated by the criminal justice system; and
WHEREAS, the drug policy task force presented its findings to the interim legislative health and human services committee, the interim courts, corrections and justice committee, the legislative finance committee and the behavioral health services subcommittee of the legislative health and human services committee; and
WHEREAS, the task force informed these legislative committees and subcommittee that there is currently an "epidemic" of heroin use among high schoolers, with an estimated five percent of high school students in Bernalillo county alone having used heroin in the last thirty days; and
WHEREAS, the task force reported that eighty-five percent of prisoners in the state have a substance abuse problem, yet the ratio is one substance abuse treatment professional to every one hundred thirteen prisoners; and
WHEREAS, the task force observed that substance addiction is a chronic disease that often is not treated as a disease but as "bad behavior" and has recommended that the current treatment approach be reevaluated to direct efforts to addressing underlying conditions leading to addiction; and
WHEREAS, the task force reported that, in 2010, more people died of unintentional prescription drug overdoses than heroin overdoses and recommended legislation in order to address prescription drug abuse; and
WHEREAS, the task force reported that, despite the severity of the substance abuse problem in New Mexico and the seven-dollar ($7.00) to eight-dollar ($8.00) return on each one dollar ($1.00) invested in substance abuse treatment, there is a scarcity of appropriate treatment opportunities because of factors that include insurers' refusal to pay for inpatient treatment and a lack of providers; and
WHEREAS, after two interims of research and analysis, the task force has begun to identify best practices in prevention, treatment and harm reduction in order to make recommendations for legislative action to address the crisis in substance abuse;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the university of New Mexico's Robert Wood Johnson foundation center for health policy be requested to continue the work of the drug policy task force in order to complete its comprehensive statewide strategic plan based on the four-pillar approach; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force continue to evaluate New Mexico's approach to alleviating the negative consequences associated with the use of alcohol and other drugs; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force present its final comprehensive statewide strategic plan, including conclusions and recommendations, to the legislative health and human services committee or its behavioral health services subcommittee, the legislative finance committee, the courts, corrections and justice committee and other appropriate interim legislative committees by November 2012; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the strategic plan and all of its conclusions and recommendations be made available to other interested legislative committees, executive agencies and the public through publication on the center for health policy's web site; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the director of the university of New Mexico's Robert Wood Johnson foundation center for health policy and to each of the agencies and organizations named in this memorial as participants on the task force.
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