SLS 19RS-476 ORIGINAL
2019 Regular Session
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 31
BY SENATOR BARROW
LEGIS POWERS/FUNCTIONS. Designates a lead agency over the Interagency Heroin and
Opioid Coordination Plan.
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2 To designate the Louisiana Department of Health as the lead agency over the Interagency
3 Heroin and Opioid Coordination Plan.
4 WHEREAS, pursuant to Act No. 88 of the 2017 Regular Session of the Legislature,
5 (Louisiana Revised Statute 49:219.5) the Drug Policy Board has established the Advisory
6 Council on Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education; and
7 WHEREAS, the Louisiana Department of Health appointed a suitable individual to
8 serve as chair of the Advisory Council on Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education and
9 has provided staff support for the council pursuant to Louisiana Revised Statute 49:219.5
10 and further, has taken a lead role in coordinating the collection of data and tackling the
11 heroin and opioid epidemic through best practices and evidence based strategies by
12 leveraging its current partnership, resources, and funding awards from several substantial
13 federal grants; and
14 WHEREAS, the Advisory Council on Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education
15 completed its first annual Interagency Heroin and Opioid Coordination Plan in December
16 2018, which was subsequently approved by the Drug Policy Board and made available to
17 the public in January 2019; and
18 WHEREAS, the Advisory Council on Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education
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SLS 19RS-476 ORIGINAL
1 was unable to acquire all information identified in Act No. 88 of the 2017 Regular Session
2 of the Legislature including state and parish level data on opioids; progress of current
3 initiatives in the state relating to the heroin and opioid epidemic, and specific impacts to
4 agencies in addressing education, treatment including the use of medication assisted
5 treatment, prevention, overdose, and recovery; and
6 WHEREAS, the Advisory Council on Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education
7 identified some specific data gaps as well as challenges with existing data collection,
8 analysis, and reporting related to tracking heroin and opioid use and related consequences
9 including, but not limited to:
10 1. Number of citations issued due to illegal heroin and opioid possession,
11 distribution, sales, or trafficking.
12 2. Number of arrests due to illegal heroin and opioid possession, distribution, sales,
13 or trafficking.
14 3. Number of convictions for illegal heroin and opioid possession, distribution, sales,
15 or trafficking.
16 4. Number of incarcerated people with active offenses known to be with an opioid.
17 5. Costs associated with the citations, arrests, and court cases.
18 6. Number of individuals needing treatment for opioid use disorders.
19 7. Methadone treatment information.
20 8. Number of successful overdose reversals.
21 9. Improve data collection on barriers and opportunities for prevention, screening,
22 intervention, treatment, and recovery at the system of care level.
23 10. Number of training curriculums being implemented in Louisiana's educational
24 institutions that increase knowledge and capacity of educators and administrators in the
25 identification, screening, interventions, prevention, and treatment of substance use disorders.
26 11. Number of college students seen in health or wellness centers for opioid related
27 instances.
28 12. Number of opioid related issues handled by student conduct offices on college
29 campuses.
30 13. Number of opioid related campus law enforcement incidents.
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SLS 19RS-476 ORIGINAL
1 14. Counts of Naloxone obtained via prescription and billed to a private health
2 insurance provider or via private payment to a pharmacy.
3 15. Comorbidity data of opioid use disorders and HIV, Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), and
4 other intravenous transmissible diseases.
5 16. Metrics assessing the opioid epidemic's impact to families and the labor force.
6 17. Data from children's agencies and child welfare.
7 18. Expenditures and savings related to opioid use epidemic.
8 19. Clinical metrics about opioid related use, deaths, conditions for which they are
9 prescribed.
10 20. Workers' compensation claims and absenteeism related to opioids.
11 21. Substance use and behavioral health integration data gaps within primary care.
12 22. Data gaps related to the harm reduction efforts; and
13 WHEREAS, the Interagency Coordination Plan Workgroup of the Advisory Council
14 on Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education, with resources from the Louisiana
15 Department of Health, designed and fielded a survey for respondents to describe the nature
16 of their initiatives to address the heroin and opioid epidemic that garnered a significant
17 amount, but not all available information related to state and parish level initiatives.
18 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
19 officially designates the Louisiana Department of Health as the lead authority to establish,
20 update, and execute the recommendations identified in the annual Interagency Heroin and
21 Opioid Coordination Plan which is a required product of the Drug Policy Board's Advisory
22 Council on Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education pursuant to Louisiana Revised
23 Statute 49:219.5.
24 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge
25 and request all public entities, private entities that receive state funding, and self-funded
26 agencies that regulate in the interest of the public's safety to promptly respond to all data
27 requests regarding opioid and heroin use prevalence, prevention, education, arrest or
28 adjudication, treatment, overdose prevention, and recovery from the Drug Policy Board's
29 Advisory Council on Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education or the Louisiana
30 Department of Health.
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SLS 19RS-476 ORIGINAL
1 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that if public entities, private entities that receive
2 state funding, and self-funded agencies that regulate in the interest of the public's safety
3 cannot respond to data requests from the Louisiana Department of Health and the Drug
4 Policy Board Advisory Council due to gaps in opioid and heroin related data collection,
5 analysis or reporting, the entity will make reasonable efforts to address these gaps through
6 its own data management processes or will communicate barriers to filling these gaps to the
7 Drug Policy Board's Advisory Council on Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education or
8 the department for possible collaboration to assist.
9 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge
10 and request all public entities, private entities that receive state funding, and self-funded
11 agencies that regulate in the interest of the public's safety to report by January first of each
12 year the status of all heroin and opioid prevention, education, treatment, overdose
13 prevention, and recovery initiatives to the Drug Policy Board's Advisory Council on Heroin
14 and Opioid Prevention and Education or the Louisiana Department of Health.
15 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
16 secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and the Drug Policy Board's Advisory
17 Council on Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Ann S. Brown.
DIGEST
SCR 31 Original 2019 Regular Session Barrow
Designates the Louisiana Department of Health as the lead authority over the Drug Policy
Board's Advisory Council on Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education's Interagency
Heroin and Opioid Coordination Plan.
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