Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS -- (Senate - June 22, 2006)
By Mr. DURBIN:
S. 3557. A bill to reduce deaths occurring from overdoses of drugs or controlled substances; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, on the first Monday and Tuesday of June, 14 people in Chicago died from an apparent overdose of heroin laced with fentanyl. That brings to 74 the lives lost to heroin and fentanyl in Cook County, IL, this year.
We know that abuse of prescription drugs is on the rise. The manufacture of mind-altering substances is getting easier. Meanwhile, Chicago first responders have treated more than 600 drug overdoses since April. Today I am introducing the Drug Overdose Reduction Act to strengthen and expand the work our communities are doing to prevent overdose deaths from both prescription drug and illicit drug abuse.
The legislation authorizes funding to train first responders, law enforcement officials and corrections officials on how to recognize and respond to an overdose. Funding also would be available for drug overdose prevention programs that provide direct services to people most at risk of an overdose death.
The act would support the important work of organizations like the Chicago Recovery Alliance, which works with a population of people at high risk for overdose deaths. Dr. Sarz Maxwell, medical director for the Alliance, said she knows of several people whose lives have been saved by the consumer education the group provides.
These local outreach and education efforts may be the best tool we have right now for saving lives that would otherwise be lost to drug overdoses. By implementing the Drug Overdose Prevention Act, we can avert the tragic deaths caused by the most recent wave of deadly heroin.
One of the victims in Chicago was just 17 years old. Joseph graduated from high school on Sunday and was found dead in the back of his car on Tuesday.
Deaths like this are tragic for those who have died and their families, but also for the high schools and communities they grew up in. A Chicago police official was quoted in the New York Times saying that it appeared the drug cocktail had killed the young man instantly. Perhaps his death contributed to the decision at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration 2 days later to issue an alert to rehab centers and addiction specialists about the heroin mixed with fentanyl.
I am encouraged that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, working with Chicago police, this week descended on what they believe is the headquarters for local distribution of this deadly drug. I commend the law enforcement officials who are cracking down on illicit drug traffic in my home State of Illinois and across the country. Their work is fundamental to a comprehensive response to senseless deaths due to drug overdoses.
The time has come to put an end to these tragedies. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the Drug Overdose Reduction Act to bring resources to community-based efforts to prevent unnecessary deaths by providing information about the dangers of drug abuse, how to find help to break addictions and how to stay alive in the interim.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the RECORD.
There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:
S. 3557
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