For Immediate Release:
June 24, 2016
Concord, NH – Today, two bills, SB 522 and SB 533, were signed into law as part of the comprehensive plan to curb the heroin crisis in New Hampshire.
“I am thankful that SB 522, which provides the necessary funding to make upgrades to the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program [PDMP], became law today. Increasing the use of the PDMP by making it more user-friendly will help lessen the occurrences of doctor shopping or when opioid addicts seek multiple prescriptions for controlled opioids from more than one doctor. By expanding the use of the PDMP prescribers will have an updated record of the individual patients’ opioid prescriptions from all prescribers. This preventative step will help limit prescribing in instances where it is clear the patient is abusing drugs and we expect it will help reduce the number of cases of opioid and heroin addiction in the future,” said Senator Jeb Bradley (R- Wolfeboro).
“In addition, SB 533 increases the resources available for treatment and recovery by funding transitional housing, while also providing the means to add a position within the Attorney General’s office responsible for prosecuting drug related crimes in New Hampshire.”
“These bills were crafted specifically to target the areas of prevention, treatment or recovery efforts in order to hamper the deadly heroin crisis in our state. We worked to not only prevent the influx of new users but increase our capacity to help those struggling with addiction to find treatment and enter into recovery in order to have a lasting impact on ending this crisis.”
“We owe a sincere thank you to the advocates, doctors and prescribers, addicts in recovery, parents, legislators and everyone else who helped ensure these bills will provide a realistic, long-term solution to end the heroin crisis,” added Bradley.
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