HOUSE MEMORIAL 56

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

INTRODUCED BY

Deborah A. Armstrong

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE NEW MEXICO LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TO CHARGE THE LEGISLATIVE HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE WITH HEARING TESTIMONY ON HEROIN-ASSISTED TREATMENT AS A FEASIBLE, EFFECTIVE AND COST-EFFECTIVE STRATEGY FOR REDUCING DRUG USE AND DRUG-RELATED HARM AMONG LONG-TERM HEROIN USERS FOR WHOM OTHER TREATMENT PROGRAMS HAVE FAILED.

     WHEREAS, New Mexico has long been concerned about the high rate of opioid misuse and dependency and the impact on the people of New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, the rate for New Mexico overdose-related deaths in 2016 was over twenty-five per one hundred thousand population, higher than the national average of almost twenty deaths per one hundred thousand population; and

     WHEREAS, there are areas within New Mexico with drug overdose death rates as high as ninety per one hundred thousand; and

     WHEREAS, drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in New Mexico, and overdose deaths in New Mexico outnumber traffic fatalities; and

     WHEREAS, people who use opioids, including heroin and prescription medications, are at risk for health-related harm associated with their use, such as blood-borne infections like human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis C, skin infections at injection sites, venous damage and, ultimately, death due to overdose; and

     WHEREAS, drug abuse and dependence is a complex issue that requires innovative approaches; and

     WHEREAS, there is a need to enhance the existing health care system in New Mexico and explore additional comprehensive and innovative models to address problematic drug use; and

     WHEREAS, for people who use drugs who have not found success with methadone, suboxone or other treatments, the most dramatic developments in drug substitution therapies have been in the field of heroin-assisted treatment; and

     WHEREAS, heroin-assisted treatment is the administering or dispensing of pharmaceutical-grade heroin, dicetalmethadone, by medical practitioners under strict controls in a clinical setting to select heroin-dependent persons; and

     WHEREAS, heroin-assisted treatment programs, as part of comprehensive treatment strategies, provide substantial benefits to long-term heroin users who have not been responsive to other types of treatment; and

     WHEREAS, heroin use disorder can be understood by consulting the description of opioid use disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition, published by the American psychiatric association, and is identified as including a maladaptive pattern of heroin use leading to clinically significant impairment or distress and a combination of several of the following signs and symptoms:

          A. an increasing tolerance of heroin;

          B. withdrawal signs and symptoms when there are attempts to reduce or control heroin use;

          C. a desire or unsuccessful efforts to cut down or control heroin use;

          D. a loss of social, occupational or recreational activities because of heroin use; and

          E. continuing use of heroin despite consequences; and

     WHEREAS, permanent heroin-assisted treatment programs have been established in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark, with additional trial programs having been completed or currently taking place in Spain, Belgium and Canada; and

     WHEREAS, findings from randomized controlled studies in these countries have yielded unanimously positive results, including that:

          A. heroin-assisted treatment reduces drug use;

          B. retention rates in heroin-assisted treatment surpass those of conventional treatment;

          C. heroin-assisted treatment can be a stepping stone to other treatments and even abstinence;

          D. heroin-assisted treatment improves health, social functioning and quality of life;

          E. heroin-assisted treatment does not pose nuisance or other neighborhood concerns;

          F. heroin-assisted treatment reduces crime;

          G. heroin-assisted treatment can reduce the black market for heroin; and

          H. heroin-assisted treatment is cost effective, in that the cost-savings from the benefits attributable to heroin-assisted treatment far outweigh the cost of program operation over the long run; and

     WHEREAS, retention rates in heroin-assisted treatment programs dwarf those of conventional treatments; and

     WHEREAS, further, because participants in heroin-assisted treatment programs are much less likely to commit acquisitive crimes and other offenses, not including drug-related offenses, such programs have also been shown to decrease crime in areas where they are situated, which also leads to cost savings;

     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 charge the legislative health and human services committee with hearing testimony related to heroin-assisted treatment as a feasible, effective and cost-effective strategy for reducing drug use and drug-related harm among long-term heroin users in New Mexico for whom other treatment programs have failed; 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 secretary of health; the secretary of human services; the secretary of children, youth and families; the secretary of corrections; the secretary of public safety; the chancellor for health sciences of the university of New Mexico; the president of New Mexico state university; and the executive director of the New Mexico association of counties.

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