PRINTER'S NO. 2014

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE RESOLUTION

No.

214

Session of

2023

INTRODUCED BY MARCELL, HOGAN, GIRAL, HEFFLEY, M. JONES,

KAUFFMAN, KIM, KINSEY, KUZMA, LABS, R. MACKENZIE, PICKETT,

ROWE AND STRUZZI, SEPTEMBER 21, 2023

nationally; and

WHEREAS, In the early 1990s, prescription opioids became a

popular course of treatment for chronic and acute pain; and

WHEREAS, Data indicates that approximately 80% of new heroin

users began their drug use with prescription opioids, usually

legally prescribed; and

WHEREAS, Nearly every community in this Commonwealth has been

traumatically affected by the opioid and heroin epidemic, which

has transformed neighborhoods, left children without parents,

torn families apart and taken the lives of young adults; and

the highest per capita number of overdoses; and

WHEREAS, The City of Philadelphia experienced 1,276 overdose

deaths in 2021 according to data from the Philadelphia

Department of Health, with 82% of the 2021 overdose deaths

including fentanyl; and

WHEREAS, In 2021, Allegheny County experienced 719 overdose

deaths, an increase in 30 deaths over the final number in 2020

of 689, or a 5% increase; and

WHEREAS, In 2019, a total of 1,608 cases of neonatal

abstinence syndrome were reported by the Department of Health;

impact of the opioid and heroin epidemic to the criminal justice

system in this Commonwealth was $53 million per year, adjusted

to 2017 dollars; and

WHEREAS, The growth of fentanyl and xylazine has complicated

efforts to address the opioid and heroin epidemic; and

WHEREAS, In response to the opioid and heroin epidemic, the

Commonwealth instituted a variety of prevention and intervention

strategies to combat substance use disorder and accidental drug

overdose; and

WHEREAS, In 2014, the General Assembly passed legislation for

WHEREAS, In 2016, the General Assembly passed legislation

directing the State's medical boards to develop regulations to

implement a curriculum for the safe prescription of controlled

substances containing an opioid; and

WHEREAS, In 2016, the General Assembly also passed

legislation giving patients the right to complete a patient

voluntary nonopioid directive to refuse the prescribing or

administration of a controlled substance containing an opioid;

and

WHEREAS, In 2016, the General Assembly also passed

friends of those individuals can obtain naloxone, an overdose

reversal drug, without a prescription; and

WHEREAS, Single county authorities across this Commonwealth

have developed policies and procedures to ensure a "warm

handoff" of survivors of opioid and heroin-related drug

overdoses to provide a simplified pathway from overdose to

treatment and to prevent relapse; and

WHEREAS, Efforts must be made to extinguish the debilitating

stigma that surrounds mental health and behavioral health,

including substance use disorder, which so often deters

RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives acknowledge the

devastating impact that the opioid and heroin epidemic has

inflicted on this Commonwealth; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives continue to work

to find solutions to the opioid and heroin epidemic and the

prevention of substance use disorder; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives continue to raise

awareness of the possible consequences of the misuse and abuse

of opioids, other controlled substances and prescription drugs;

and be it further