HOUSE MEMORIAL 12

53rd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2018

INTRODUCED BY

Patricio Ruiloba

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE NEW MEXICO LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TO CREATE AN OPIOID CRISIS SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE LEGISLATIVE HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE TO STUDY THE OPIOID USE DISORDER CRISIS AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ADDRESSING THE OPIOID USE DISORDER CRISIS TO THE LEGISLATURE.

     WHEREAS, the department of health reports that in 2015 New Mexico had the eighth-highest drug overdose death rate in the United States; and

     WHEREAS, unintentional overdose deaths constitute eighty-five percent of all drug overdose deaths; and

     WHEREAS, prescription opioids were responsible for forty-seven percent of the unintentional overdose deaths in 2015; and

     WHEREAS, unintentional overdose from heroin, an illicit opioid that many with opioid use disorders use after moving from the more costly and less available prescription opioids, constituted thirty-seven percent of unintentional overdose deaths in 2015; and

     WHEREAS, the department of health reports that opioid overdose-related emergency department visits have increased ninety-eight and four-tenths percent in the United States between 2004 and 2009; and

     WHEREAS, in Rio Arriba county alone, opioid overdose-related emergency department visits were as high as one hundred eighty-two and two-tenths visits per one hundred thousand residents between the years 2011 and 2015; and

     WHEREAS, the effects of the opioid use disorder crisis are far reaching, placing enormous burdens on individuals and their families as well as health care providers, social services agencies and state and local governments; and

     WHEREAS, among the most vulnerable victims of the opioid use disorder crisis are children born to parents who are struggling with opioid dependence; and

     WHEREAS, due to the incapacity of many opioid-dependent parents, grandparents and other relatives of the children of opioid-dependent parents, as well as the foster care system, child protective services, law enforcement and the courts, are overwhelmed with the burden of intervening and providing alternative placements for children of opioid-dependent parents; and

     WHEREAS, the New Mexico legislature and state agencies have implemented some policies and programs to address the opioid use disorder crisis, including:

          A. instituting a prescription drug monitoring program, as well as a requirement that certain prescribers consult the prescription drug monitoring program to ensure that patients are not likely to abuse prescription opioids;

          B. passing legislation and providing funding to make Narcan, an opioid reversal agent, more available to service providers and the general public, resulting in the rescue of many lives that would otherwise have succumbed to unintentional opioid overdose; and

          C. creating community response teams and law enforcement diversion programs to assist individuals who are using opioids in getting help and avoiding greater involvement in the criminal justice system; and

     WHEREAS, despite the many efforts already undertaken, the legislature continues to receive extensive testimony from residents and health and social service providers that New Mexico suffers from an insufficiency of health care services, social services, law enforcement and other vital resources to meet the demand arising from the opioid use disorder crisis; and

     WHEREAS, a number of experts in behavioral health, medicine, education and government were convened by the legislative health and human services committee at a November 2, 2017 opioid crisis summit in Santa Fe; and

     WHEREAS, attendees at the opioid crisis summit issued a number of recommendations for addressing the opioid use disorder crisis, including:

          A. funding more robust opioid dependence prevention programming and policies, including enhanced protective factors; trauma recovery and resilience; providing overdose prevention and response education; and increasing access to behavioral health services;

          B. enhancing prescriber education and accountability;

          C. strengthening legal provisions such as: tort immunity provisions for those who seek or assist in obtaining medical assistance in cases of opioid use disorder; the limiting of prescription of short-acting opioids; the decriminalizing of substance use disorders through pre-arrest diversion; and the decriminalizing of personal use of drugs;

          D. investing in the behavioral health workforce to meet the demands that the opioid use disorder crisis presents;

          E. funding and enacting policies to support the use of medication-assisted treatment that substantial medical evidence identifies as the most effective treatment for opioid use disorders;

          F. providing wraparound supports for people with opioid use disorders and their families;

          G. providing funding to first responders so that they may adequately meet the needs of people with opioid use disorders;

          H. addressing the needs of incarcerated individuals and newly released individuals for services to address opioid use disorders and prevent opioid use disorder-related recidivism;

          I. holding the state medicaid program and medicaid managed care organizations accountable for implementing best practices for addressing opioid use disorders; and

          J. promoting collaboration among all sectors to coordinate the state's response to opioid use disorders; and

     WHEREAS, currently, there is no single entity that bears the responsibility for leading and coordinating the state's response to the opioid use disorder crisis that is claiming many thousands of lives and imposing an intolerable burden on New Mexico institutions;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the New Mexico legislative council be requested to create an "opioid crisis subcommittee" of the legislative health and human services committee to meet monthly during the 2018 interim to study the opioid use disorder crisis and make recommendations for addressing the opioid use disorder crisis to the legislature by December 1, 2018; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the New Mexico legislative council be requested to charge the chair of the legislative health and human services committee with convening and chairing the opioid crisis subcommittee and with appointing to the subcommittee:

          A. at least one other member of the house of representatives, who is a member of the minority party;

          B. at least two senators, one each from the majority party and the minority party; and

          C. a member of the legislative finance committee staff; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the New Mexico legislative council be requested to invite others to join the subcommittee as follows:

          A. the secretary of children, youth and families or the secretary's designee;

          B. the secretary of public safety or the secretary's designee;

          C. the secretary of corrections or the secretary's designee;

          D. the secretary of health or the secretary's designee;

          E. the secretary of human services or the secretary's designee;

          F. an active, certified police officer with an active assignment in the field of narcotics response;

          G. an agent of the United States drug enforcement agency;

          H. a representative of the office of the attorney general;

          I. a representative of the board of pharmacy;

          J. a member of the New Mexico medical board;

          K. a member of the board of osteopathic medicine;

          L. a physician;

          M. a pharmacist; and

          N. a representative of the opioid use disorder treatment provider community; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the governor; the co-chairs of the New Mexico legislative council; the chair and vice chair of the legislative health and human services committee; the attorney general; the director of the legislative finance committee; the secretary of children, youth and families; the secretary of public safety; the secretary of corrections; the secretary of health; the secretary of human services; the executive director of the board of pharmacy; the executive director of the New Mexico medical board; and the executive director of the board of osteopathic medicine.

- 7 -