What's happening
This bill requires the state to identify counties with high prescription opioid abuse and encourage pharmacists there to distribute educational materials on opioid misuse.
Why it matters
Targets resources where they’re needed most. By identifying counties with the highest rates of prescription opioid abuse using statewide data, the bill focuses educational efforts on communities at greatest risk, potentially increasing the impact of prevention efforts.
Leverages pharmacists as public health partners. The legislation encourages pharmacists—often the last point of contact before a patient receives opioids—to distribute information about the risks of misuse and addiction, making use of their trusted role in the community.
Promotes data-driven intervention. The approach requires the state to use available health and prescription data to inform its response, which could lead to more timely and tailored public health strategies as opioid abuse patterns shift.
Aims to increase public awareness and prevention. By mandating the distribution of educational materials in high-risk areas, the bill seeks to reduce opioid misuse through greater public understanding, which could lead to fewer cases of addiction and overdose in the long term.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Distribute Opioid Abuse Materials
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Committed to rules
- Advanced to third reading
- 2nd report cal.
- 1st report cal.448
- Referred to alcoholism and substance abuse
- Committed to rules
- Advanced to third reading
- 2nd report cal.
- 1st report cal.143
- Referred to alcoholism and substance abuse
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Distribute Opioid Warning Materials
In Assembly Committee · Alcoholism And Drug Abuse · Sponsor Steven Cymbrowitz
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
379
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE (Prefiled)
January 9, 2019
Introduced by Sen. LANZA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse
AN ACT to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to the distribution in counties with the most prevalent prescription opioid abuse of educational materials regarding the misuse of and addiction to prescription drugs
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision (j) of section 19.09 of the mental hygiene law is amended by adding a new paragraph 4 to read as follows:
(4) Utilizing data that is available to the office, including, but not limited to, information obtained pursuant to subdivision four of section thirty-three hundred nine-a of the public health law, the commissioner shall identify the counties in New York state where prescription opioid abuse is most prevalent. Pharmacists licensed by the state to dispense prescription drugs may be notified at the discretion of the commissioner in collaboration with the department of health, about the prevalence of opioid abuse in the county in which such pharmacists are located and encourage the facilities where prescription drugs are dispensed to distribute materials created or utilized pursuant to this subdivision.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03537-01-9
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to the distribution in counties with the most prevalent prescription opioid abuse of educational materials regarding the misuse of and addiction to prescription drugs
Purpose or general idea of bill
The purpose of this bill is to help to prevent the misuse or abuse of prescription drugs.
Summary of specific provisions
Amends 19.09 of mental hygiene law by requiring the commissioner of the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services in consultation with the Department of Health to create or utilize existing educational mate- rials and make them available to pharmacists who may distribute them with any prescribed controlled substance. Such materials shall include information regarding the dangers misuse and the potential for addiction to prescription drugs, treatment resources available, and the proper way to dispose of unused prescription drugs.
Read the full memo (708 words)
The bill would also require the Commissioner to utilize data that is available to the office in order to identify the counties in New York State where prescription opioid abuse is most prevalent. At the discretion of the commissioner, in collaboration with the department of health, pharmacists may be notified about the prevalence of opioid abuse in the county where the pharmacists are located, and strongly encourage the pharmacy to utilize the educational materials created by this bill.
Justification
Data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) taken in 2009 showed that nearly one-third of people age 12 and over that used drugs for the first time began by using a prescription drug non-medical- ly. The same survey found that over 70 percent of people who abused prescription pain relievers obtained them from friends or relatives. Additionally, it was shown in the latest Monitoring the Future Study, the Nation's largest survey of drug use among young people administered by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), of the drugs most often abused, prescription drugs ranked second behind marijuana.
A contributing factor to the rise of prescription drug abuse has been the common misperception that prescription medications are less danger- ous than illegal drugs because they are FDA-approved. Many well-meaning parents do not understand the risks associated with giving prescribed medication to a teenager or another family member for whom the medica- tion was not prescribed, or, they are not aware that youth are abusing prescription drugs at all; thus, they frequently leave unused prescription drugs in open medicine cabinets.
In 2011 the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) stated in its Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Plan that a key factor to deterring prescription drug abuse is educating the youth and their parents about the dangers of misuse and abuse of prescription drugs. The ONDCP also recommended that organizations such as local anti-drug coalitions and pharmacies should promote and disseminate public educational materials in order to increase awareness of prescription drug misuse and abuse, and how to safely dispose of unused prescription medications. In 2012, the New York State Department of Health (DOH) in partnership with the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) and the Phar- macists Society of the State of New York (PSSNY) issued a letter to pharmacies in New York emphasizing the vital role pharmacists play in this goal. Their position gives them a unique opportunity to increase the knowledge of their customers regarding the consequences that result from the misuse of prescription medication.
This bill would help to prevent the misuse or abuse of prescription drugs by providing pharmacists with educational materials that they may distribute to their customers. Such materials would provide information on the dangers of misuse, and the potential for addiction to prescription medications. They would also provide information on how to access treatment services and safely dispose of unused prescription medications.
Prior legislative history
2018: S.4326 - Third Reading Calendar/A.3074-A - Referred to Alcoholism & Drug Abuse 2017: S.4326 - Third Reading Calendar/A.3074-A - Referred to Alcoholism & Drug Abuse 2016: S.8080 - Referred to Rules/A.881 - Passed Assembly 2015: A.881 - Referred to Alcoholism & Drug Abuse 2014: S.6725 - Reported to Finance/A.7837 - Passed Assembly
Fiscal implications
Undetermined.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have become law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.