HLS 21RS-907 ORIGINAL
2021 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 76
BY REPRESENTATIVES EDMONDS AND TURNER
HEALTH/BEHAVIORAL: Urges and requests the La. Department of Health to convene
an opioid action summit in 2021
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2To urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health to convene an opioid action summit
3 in 2021.
4 WHEREAS, drugs known as opioids include prescription pain medications, heroin,
5and synthetic pharmaceuticals such as fentanyl and, for reasons relating to their chemical
6composition and the physiology of the human brain, are among the most highly addictive
7substances known to science; and
8 WHEREAS, the effects of opioid addiction can be devastating for families and
9communities; and
10 WHEREAS, the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health
11characterizes opioid abuse as a serious national crisis that affects public health as well as
12social and economic welfare; and
13 WHEREAS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that
14the total economic burden of prescription opioid misuse in the United States, which
15encompasses the costs of health care, lost productivity, addiction treatment, and criminal
16justice involvement, is over seventy-eight billion dollars annually; and
17 WHEREAS, in a national vital statistics update issued in April of 2021, the CDC
18reported that the number of drug overdose deaths in the Unites State rose at an alarming rate
19during the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than eighty-seven thousand Americans dying
20of drug overdoses from September of 2019 to September of 2020; the death toll in this
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HCR NO. 76
1period represents the highest number of overdose deaths ever recorded in a year since the
2opioid epidemic began in the 1990s; and
3 WHEREAS, the April, 2021 CDC update indicated that among all U.S. states and the
4District of Columbia, Louisiana experienced the nation's second-largest annual increase in
5drug overdose deaths (with a fifty-four percent increase) behind only the District of
6Columbia (which had a sixty-one percent increase) and just ahead of Kentucky (which had
7a fifty percent increase); and
8 WHEREAS, in its annual report issued in March of 2021, Louisiana's Advisory
9Council on Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education, a body created by Act No. 88 of
10the 2017 Regular Session and known informally as the "HOPE Council", indicates that
11among the most concerning opioid-related trends of the past year is the continuing rise in
12fatal and non-fatal opioid poisonings, with notable spikes beginning in March of 2020 and
13coinciding with the outbreak of COVID-19; and
14 WHEREAS, the 2021 HOPE Council annual report also notes that, as in prior years,
15synthetic opioids and fentanyl continued to contribute to an increasing number of deaths in
16Louisiana, with deaths related to fentanyl use increasing by roughly sixty-five percent from
172018 to 2019; and
18 WHEREAS, according to the Louisiana State Police Bureau of Investigation, the
19amount of illicit fentanyl seized in this state increased from forty-nine grams in 2019 to over
20three-and-one-half kilograms in 2020, a vast increase in percentage terms; and
21 WHEREAS, recognizing the vital necessity of public engagement in combating the
22opioid epidemic, the Louisiana Department of Health, in September of 2019, hosted a three-
23day-event in Slidell which the department branded as the Opioid Action Summit; and
24 WHEREAS, the 2019 Opioid Action Summit brought together hundreds of
25healthcare providers, subject matter experts, and stakeholders in the addiction treatment
26community, all of whom are at the forefront of fighting the opioid epidemic in our state, and
27was a resounding success by every measure; and
28 WHEREAS, considering the immense challenges that Louisiana now faces on
29multiple public health fronts, particularly with respect to opioids, it is critical that our state
30remain steadfast and focused in combating opioid abuse; and
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HCR NO. 76
1 WHEREAS, policymakers, community leaders, and concerned citizens look to the
2leadership of this state's health agency, the Louisiana Department of Health, to guide,
3support, and inspire us in combating the opioid epidemic; and
4 WHEREAS, the members of the legislature understand the severity of the opioid
5crisis in Louisiana and hereby express our intent, individually and as a body, to partner with
6and support the efforts of the Louisiana Department of Health to addressing this daunting
7public health crisis.
8 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
9urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health to convene an opioid action summit
10in 2021.
11 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
12secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HCR 76 Original 2021 Regular Session Edmonds
Urges and requests the La. Department of Health to convene an opioid action summit in
2021.
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