CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE 20192020 REGULAR SESSION Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 149Introduced by Assembly Member VoepelJanuary 16, 2020 Relative to opioid epidemic.LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGESTACR 149, as introduced, Voepel. Opioid epidemic.This measure would designate the month of September 2020 as Opioid Awareness Month in California.Digest Key Fiscal Committee: NO Bill TextWHEREAS, The opioid overdose epidemic continues to claim lives across the country with a record of 47,600 overdose deaths in 2017. This number represents 67.8 percent of the 70,237 overdose deaths from all drugs; andWHEREAS, Eight-thousand-year-old hardened Sumerian clay tablets are the earliest prescriptions of opium with Ancient Greeks, Indians, Chinese, Egyptians, Romans, Arabs, people in middle ages, and Europeans from renaissance to now all prescribing opioids; andWHEREAS, Wounded soldiers from the American Civil War, the British Crimean War, and the Franco-Prussian War, were allowed to abuse the drug. By the 1830s, one-third of all lethal poisoning was due to opium-marking, the first recognition of a social evil. Isolation of Morphine from opium by Serterner in Germany in 1805, hypodermic syringe by Pranez in the 1850s, synthesis of morphine by Tschudi in 1952, and manufacturing of synthetic derivatives called opioids and heroin eased the use; andWHEREAS, Recognition of subjective pain as the fifth vital sign, with pressure on providers to prescribe scheduled medicines, added additional strokes to this menace of prehistoric dimensionsthe opioid epidemic, which shreds 13 percent of high school seniors every year; andWHEREAS, More Americans die every year now from drug overdose than in motor vehicle crashes. This crisis is taking an especially devastating toll on certain parts of the United States workforce. High rates of opioid overdose deaths have occurred in industries with high injury rates and physically demanding working conditions such as construction, mining, or fishing; andWHEREAS, In April 2018, at the National Rx Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit, National Institute of Health Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., announced the launch of the HEAL (Helping to End Addiction Long-term) Initiative, an aggressive, trans-agency effort to speed scientific solutions to stem the national opioid public health crisis; andWHEREAS, Opioid treatment programs are housed in facilities that provide substance abuse treatment, which includes medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder. Medication-assisted treatment patients treated in opioid treatment programs must receive counseling, which can include different forms of behavioral therapy; now, therefore, be itResolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby designates the month of September 2020 as Opioid Awareness Month in California; and be it furtherResolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE 20192020 REGULAR SESSION Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 149Introduced by Assembly Member VoepelJanuary 16, 2020 Relative to opioid epidemic.LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGESTACR 149, as introduced, Voepel. Opioid epidemic.This measure would designate the month of September 2020 as Opioid Awareness Month in California.Digest Key Fiscal Committee: NO
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE 20192020 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Concurrent Resolution
No. 149
Introduced by Assembly Member VoepelJanuary 16, 2020
Introduced by Assembly Member Voepel
January 16, 2020
Relative to opioid epidemic.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
## LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
ACR 149, as introduced, Voepel. Opioid epidemic.
This measure would designate the month of September 2020 as Opioid Awareness Month in California.
This measure would designate the month of September 2020 as Opioid Awareness Month in California.
## Digest Key
## Bill Text
WHEREAS, The opioid overdose epidemic continues to claim lives across the country with a record of 47,600 overdose deaths in 2017. This number represents 67.8 percent of the 70,237 overdose deaths from all drugs; and
WHEREAS, Eight-thousand-year-old hardened Sumerian clay tablets are the earliest prescriptions of opium with Ancient Greeks, Indians, Chinese, Egyptians, Romans, Arabs, people in middle ages, and Europeans from renaissance to now all prescribing opioids; and
WHEREAS, Wounded soldiers from the American Civil War, the British Crimean War, and the Franco-Prussian War, were allowed to abuse the drug. By the 1830s, one-third of all lethal poisoning was due to opium-marking, the first recognition of a social evil. Isolation of Morphine from opium by Serterner in Germany in 1805, hypodermic syringe by Pranez in the 1850s, synthesis of morphine by Tschudi in 1952, and manufacturing of synthetic derivatives called opioids and heroin eased the use; and
WHEREAS, Recognition of subjective pain as the fifth vital sign, with pressure on providers to prescribe scheduled medicines, added additional strokes to this menace of prehistoric dimensionsthe opioid epidemic, which shreds 13 percent of high school seniors every year; and
WHEREAS, More Americans die every year now from drug overdose than in motor vehicle crashes. This crisis is taking an especially devastating toll on certain parts of the United States workforce. High rates of opioid overdose deaths have occurred in industries with high injury rates and physically demanding working conditions such as construction, mining, or fishing; and
WHEREAS, In April 2018, at the National Rx Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit, National Institute of Health Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., announced the launch of the HEAL (Helping to End Addiction Long-term) Initiative, an aggressive, trans-agency effort to speed scientific solutions to stem the national opioid public health crisis; and
WHEREAS, Opioid treatment programs are housed in facilities that provide substance abuse treatment, which includes medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder. Medication-assisted treatment patients treated in opioid treatment programs must receive counseling, which can include different forms of behavioral therapy; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby designates the month of September 2020 as Opioid Awareness Month in California; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.