Amendment Proposed To Limit Access To Opiates
WOBURN – Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and State Representative Chris Walsh have announced that a proposed amendment to Section 18 of Chapter 94C has been been filed for the 2015 Legislative session in an effort to limit access to opiates and prevent addictions to prescription medicines.
“An Act To Limit Access To Opiates” states that, “No practitioner may issue to a person seeking treatment in an emergency room of an acute care hospital or in a clinic as defined by Section 52 of Chapter 111, a prescription for a controlled substance which authorizes a quantity of medication in excess of that which is customary within a 72 hour period of medically legitimate treatment.”
“We have worked aggressively to combat the spread of the opiate epidemic,” said District Attorney Ryan. “One way to address the increasing problem of people becoming addicted to prescriptions is to make sure patients only receive the medicine they truly need. The intent of this legislation is to have medical professionals addressing their patients’ pain issues while limiting the amounts of opiates being available.”
“The increase in prescription opiate addiction in the Commonwealth is very alarming,” said Representative Walsh of Framingham. “I filed this legislation because I recognize we have a responsibility to ensure that patients are not given more medication than is medically necessary and that we halt the spread of the addiction to prescription drugs.”
The concern regarding prescription drug abuse and drug overdoses in recent years has led District Attorney Ryan to take a number of pro-active steps to address the issue, including, providing drug collection units in almost forty communities for prescription medicine. The Middlesex District Attorney’s Office purchased MedReturn Drug Collection Units using drug forfeiture funds. Communities most recently receiving the boxes include Ashland, Bedford, Sudbury, and Townsend.
In addition, District Attorney Ryan and State Senator Eileen Donoghue, (D), Lowell, founded the Lowell Area Opiate Task Force to take a community-wide approach to preventing overdose deaths. Officials from area law-enforcement agencies, health-care providers, educational institutions, human-service non-profits, and lawmakers meet on a regular basis to discuss how to best share their knowledge and collaboratively work on drug prevention initiatives in the Greater Lowell region.
District Attorney Ryan also brought together police, firefighters, and emergency medical professionals for a workshop in April 2014, “Another Chance: Reversing the Effects of Opiate Overdoses.” First Responders were given in-depth medical and educational information so that they would have the skill to administer Nasal Naloxone when responding to drug overdose calls. Following the training workshop, the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office provided a total of 540 units of Nasal Narcan to cities and towns. Nasal Naloxone is a safe treatment that reverses the effects of an overdose and, when administered properly, it can mean the difference between life and death
In addition to “An Act To Limit Access To Opiates,” District Attorney Ryan has collaborated with local elected officials to submit legislation in this session to address an alarming trend among drug users: young people taking a dangerous synthetic drug NBOMe – often referred to as “N-bomb.” N-bomb is illegal under federal drug laws but not yet classified as a controlled substance in Massachusetts. Police have seen evidence that the drug is being used by teenagers involved in crimes and experts believe many young adults are unaware of how lethal this hallucinogen is and unaware that the synthetic chemical drug can cause death. The N-bomb legislation has been filed by State Representative Cory Atkins and would amend state drug law to include three forms of NBOMe as Class B Substances. The proposed amendment would enable police to seize the drug when it is found in someone’s possession and to investigate distribution, which is often arranged via online transactions.
District Attorney Ryan also brought together police, firefighters, and emergency medical professionals for a workshop in April 2014, “Another Chance: Reversing the Effects of Opiate Overdoses.” First Responders were given in-depth medical and educational information so that they would have the skill to administer Nasal Naloxone when responding to drug overdose calls. Following the training workshop, the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office provided a total of 540 units of Nasal Narcan to cities and towns. Nasal Naloxone is a safe treatment that reverses the effects of an overdose and, when administered properly, it can mean the difference between life and death.
In addition to “An Act To Limit Access To Opiates,” District Attorney Ryan has collaborated with local elected officials to submit legislation in this session to address an alarming trend among drug users: young people taking a dangerous synthetic drug NBOMe – often referred to as “N-bomb.” N-bomb is illegal under federal drug laws but not yet classified as a controlled substance in Massachusetts. Police have seen evidence that the drug is being used by teenagers involved in crimes and experts believe many young adults are unaware of how lethal this hallucinogen is and unaware that the synthetic chemical drug can cause death. The N-bomb legislation has been filed by State Representative Cory Atkins and would amend state drug law to include three forms of NBOMe as Class B Substances. The proposed amendment would enable police to seize the drug when it is found in someone’s possession and to investigate distribution, which is often arranged via online transactions.