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WHEREAS, the White House Office of
National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) released a comprehensive action plan to
combat the prescription drug abuse epidemic with a national framework for
supporting education for patients and health care providers, expanding
state-based prescription drug monitoring programs, recommending more convenient
and environmentally responsible disposal methods, and reducing the prevalence
of pill mills and doctor shopping through enforcement efforts; and WHEREAS, substantial progress has been made in combating prescription
drug abuse as health care professionals, law enforcement officials, and
community anti-drug coalitions receive education and training coordinated by
the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA),
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and/or
ONDCP; and WHEREAS, forty-eight states now have prescription drug databases online
or in development as the Department of Justice (DOJ) provided funding to
support states’ efforts to establish and expand new or existing Prescription
Drug Monitoring Programs; and WHEREAS, take-back efforts have resulted in almost a million pounds of
unused and unwanted pills being from medicine cabinets across the country where
they can be vulnerable to misuse or abuse without doing harm to the environment
or water supply; and NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the US Conference of Mayors will support the effort to
decrease prescription drug abuse and its consequences by encouraging the proper
disposal of prescription drugs, speaking out about the dangers of misusing and
abusing prescription drugs, and exploring the use of naloxone to reverse
overdoses; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the US Conference of Mayors supports the ONDCP’s 2012
National Drug Control Policy Strategy that outlines a third way to approach
drug control as a Nation that treats drug addiction as a disease and promotes a
criminal justice system where drug-related crime is addressed in a fair and
equitable manner for every American. |
RESOLUTION ADOPTED JUNE 2012