Local roundtable helped spur opioid legislation

CHILLICOTHE — A roundtable on opioid addiction and prescription drug abuse conducted in Chillicothe in October has played a significant role in the introduction of new legislation designed to help fight the problem all the way from initial addiction to recovery.

On a conference call with reporters Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown was joined by Paint Valley ADAMH Director Juni Johnson to discuss the Heroin and Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention and Reduction Act, a measure the senator described as containing provisions that touch on the whole spectrum of the drug problem. The act includes provisions that focus on addiction prevention, crisis response, expanding access to treatment and support for lifelong recovery.

"It isn't an individual problem or a character flaw, it's a chronic disease that when left untreated places a massive burden on our health care system and on those (impacted) families," Brown said. "It's a multifaceted problem that requires a comprehensive solution."

Brown says his bill would look to prevent addiction by creating a grant program to bolster tracking and reporting of fatal and non-fatal drug overdoses and by implementing regular training for health care professionals who prescribe opioids in an effort to improve their ability to diagnose addiction.

In the area of crisis management, the legislation would provide funding at the local level to increase training of first responders, doctors, pharmacists and the general public for fast response to overdoses and overdose prevention. It also would look to make the overdose-reversal drug naloxone more affordable and accessible and would provide funding for syringe exchange programs that can often serve to connect addicts to those who can provide treatment.

To treat addiction, the bill would focus the most effective medication-assisted treatment (MAT) on areas seeing the most rapid increases in abuse, authorize grants for residential treatment programs for pregnant women and those who recently gave birth who are struggling with addiction and create a pilot program allowing for outpatient treatment for pregnant women throughout the continuum of care. It also would expand the capacity to award grants to states that are experiencing rapid growth in abuse for evidence-based interventions and it would increase the number of trained care providers through a student loan repayment program for health professionals who treat those with substance abuse disorders.

Finally, the bill would support recovery by creating a National Youth Recovery Initiative through a new grant program that would provide substance abuse recovery support services to high school and college students. It also would expand recovery support services through such things as mentoring, peer support, community education and partnerships between recovery support groups and community organizations, and it would look to improve parity in mental health and substance abuse insurance benefits.

"During our roundtable in Chillicothe, we heard over and over how important prevention is," Brown said. "Community organizations and local governments are already stretched thin in dealing with the increasing number of residents who struggle with addiction. They don't have the time or the resources they know they need to educate their communities about prevention. That's why this is so important. It shouldn't be easier for Ohioans to get their hands on opioids than it is for them to get help for their addiction."

Johnson said the provision boosting the number of trained care providers is a critical one.

"Staffing recruitment has been problematic in our area," she said. "People can get paid better, they can get their loans repaid better by other organizations, so this bill may help. I just left a meeting where one of my directors was lamenting this, so that will be a really big help for us."

Johnson also praised the bill for its emphasis on using evidence-based methods, or those approaches that have been shown to work, and for its approach to the problem across the entire addiction cycle.

The introduction of the legislation comes at the same time Ohio's other senator, Rob Portman, is awaiting a vote before the Senate Judiciary Committee on his own bill, the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, which he said is designed to provide several incentives and resources designed to help states and local communities pursue proven strategies for fighting addiction. That vote was expected to come on Thursday.

Brown said he would likely support Portman's bill, which he said carries more of a law enforcement focus than his own, and that it would not surprise him if some combined version of the two bills would eventually be what makes it through the committee process to a final vote before the full Senate.