Bill Text: CA ACR93 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Prescription Drug Abuse Awareness Month.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 54-18)

Status: (Passed) 2014-05-05 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Res. Chapter 23, Statutes of 2014. [ACR93 Detail]

Download: California-2013-ACR93-Introduced.html

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BILL NUMBER: ACR 93	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Buchanan

                        FEBRUARY 11, 2014

   Relative to Prescription Drug Abuse Awareness Month.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   ACR 93, as introduced, Buchanan. Prescription Drug Abuse Awareness
Month.
   This measure would proclaim the month of March 2014 as Drug Abuse
Awareness Month in California, and encourage all citizens to
participate in prevention programs and activities and to pledge to
"Spread the Word ... One Pill Can Kill."
   Fiscal committee: no.



   WHEREAS, There were more deaths caused by drug overdoses in 2010
than traffic accidents among people 25 to 64 years of age; and
   WHEREAS, In 2010, drug overdoses in the United States of America
caused 38,329 deaths and 22,134 of those deaths were from
prescription drugs; and
   WHEREAS, In 2011, an estimated 22.5 million Americans 12 years of
age or older used an illicit drug or abused a prescription drug in
the past month; and
   WHEREAS, In 2009, 1.2 million emergency department visits were
related to misuse or abuse of pharmaceuticals, an increase of 98.4
percent since 2004; and
   WHEREAS, Nonmedical use of prescription painkillers costs health
insurers up to $72.5 billion annually in direct health care costs;
and
   WHEREAS, Overdose deaths involving opioid pain relievers now
exceed more deaths from heroin and cocaine combined; and
   WHEREAS, As many as 70 percent of people who abuse prescription
drugs get them from a relative or friend instead of a doctor; and
   WHEREAS, Americans that participated in the Drug Enforcement
Administration's (DEA) seventh National Prescription Drug Take-Back
Day on October 26, 2013, turned in more than 647,211 pounds of
unwanted or expired medications for safe and proper disposal at the
4,114 take-back sites that were available in all 50 states and the
territories of the United States. When the results of all seven
Take-Back Days are combined, the DEA and its state, local, and tribal
law enforcement, and community partners have removed 3.4 million
pounds of medication from circulation; and
   WHEREAS, The National Coalition Against Prescription Drug Abuse,
the Contra Costa County Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Coalition,
the Alcohol and Other Drugs Advisory Board in cooperation with the
Contra Costa Behavioral Health Division's Alcohol and Other Drugs
Services, law enforcement, community-based organizations, alcohol and
other drug service providers, and civic and business leaders
coordinate Prescription Drug Abuse Awareness Month activities in the
County of Contra Costa and California to engage our citizens in
demonstrating their commitment to prevention campaigns and education
aimed at raising awareness about the abuse and misuse of prescription
drugs, promoting prescription drug safe storing and disposal, and
using medications only as prescribed; and
   WHEREAS, Families, schools, businesses, faith-based communities,
law enforcement, medical professionals, county and local governments,
health care practitioners, and pharmacists in the County of Contra
Costa, the state, and the general public will demonstrate their
commitment to the prevention of prescription medication abuse by
participating in activities intended to highlight local efforts
during the month of March; and
   WHEREAS, The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors and the
Legislature support April 26, 2014, as National Prescription Drug
Take-Back Day as declared by the DEA, and encourages residents to
locate their local collection site and safely dispose of their
accumulated unwanted and unused prescription drugs; now, therefore,
be it
   Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature does hereby declare March
2014, as Prescription Drug Abuse Awareness Month, and encourages all
citizens to participate in prevention programs and activities, and to
safely store and dispose of their medication on a continual basis,
and to encourage all community members to pledge, "Spread the Word
... One Pill Can Kill"; and be further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.