ENROLLED
2021 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 76
BY REPRESENTATIVES EDMONDS AND TURNER
A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
To urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health to post on its website notices of
online opioid educational opportunities and training available in 2021 and to convene
an opioid action summit by January 1, 2023.
WHEREAS, drugs known as opioids include prescription pain medications, heroin,
and synthetic pharmaceuticals such as fentanyl and, for reasons relating to their chemical
composition and the physiology of the human brain, are among the most highly addictive
substances known to science; and
WHEREAS, the effects of opioid addiction can be devastating for families and
communities; and
WHEREAS, the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health
characterizes opioid abuse as a serious national crisis that affects public health as well as
social and economic welfare; and
WHEREAS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that
the total economic burden of prescription opioid misuse in the United States, which
encompasses the costs of health care, lost productivity, addiction treatment, and criminal
justice involvement, is over seventy-eight billion dollars annually; and
WHEREAS, in a national vital statistics update issued in April of 2021, the CDC
reported that the number of drug overdose deaths in the Unites State rose at an alarming rate
during the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than eighty-seven thousand Americans dying
of drug overdoses from September of 2019 to September of 2020; the death toll in this
period represents the highest number of overdose deaths ever recorded in a year since the
opioid epidemic began in the 1990s; and
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WHEREAS, the April, 2021 CDC update indicated that among all U.S. states and the
District of Columbia, Louisiana experienced the nation's second-largest annual increase in
drug overdose deaths (with a fifty-four percent increase) behind only the District of
Columbia (which had a sixty-one percent increase) and just ahead of Kentucky (which had
a fifty percent increase); and
WHEREAS, in its annual report issued in March of 2021, Louisiana's Advisory
Council on Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education, a body created by Act No. 88 of
the 2017 Regular Session and known informally as the "HOPE Council", indicates that
among the most concerning opioid-related trends of the past year is the continuing rise in
fatal and non-fatal opioid poisonings, with notable spikes beginning in March of 2020 and
coinciding with the outbreak of COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, the 2021 HOPE Council annual report also notes that, as in prior years,
synthetic opioids and fentanyl continued to contribute to an increasing number of deaths in
Louisiana, with deaths related to fentanyl use increasing by roughly sixty-five percent from
2018 to 2019; and
WHEREAS, according to the Louisiana State Police Bureau of Investigation, the
amount of illicit fentanyl seized in this state increased from forty-nine grams in 2019 to over
three-and-one-half kilograms in 2020, a vast increase in percentage terms; and
WHEREAS, recognizing the vital necessity of public engagement in combating the
opioid epidemic, the Louisiana Department of Health, in September of 2019, hosted a three-
day-event in Slidell which the department branded as the Opioid Action Summit; and
WHEREAS, the 2019 Opioid Action Summit brought together hundreds of
healthcare providers, subject matter experts, and stakeholders in the addiction treatment
community, all of whom are at the forefront of fighting the opioid epidemic in our state, and
was a resounding success by every measure; and
WHEREAS, considering the immense challenges that Louisiana now faces on
multiple public health fronts, particularly with respect to opioids, it is critical that our state
remain steadfast and focused in combating opioid abuse; and
WHEREAS, policymakers, community leaders, and concerned citizens look to the
leadership of this state's health agency, the Louisiana Department of Health, to guide,
support, and inspire us in combating the opioid epidemic; and
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WHEREAS, the members of the legislature understand the severity of the opioid
crisis in Louisiana and hereby express our intent, individually and as a body, to partner with
and support the efforts of the Louisiana Department of Health to address this daunting public
health crisis.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health to post on its website notices of online
opioid educational opportunities and training available in 2021, and to convene an opioid
action summit by January 1, 2023.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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