BladenOnline.com‘s roundtable discussions on the opioid epidemic in North Carolina and Bladen County continues this week with a look at NC House Bill 243 known as the “The STOP Act.” NC Rep. Brenden Jones was a co-sponsor of the bill. His comments regarding the bill are below:
“Over the last several years, there has been an ongoing opioid abuse problem across the country. In North Carolina, we have 4 of the top 25 cities in the country for opioid abuse rate.* This is a crisis that is causing people to lose their lives, displacing families, and wreaking havoc on many neighborhoods.
What HB243 does is attempt to address this problem by expanding the role of the Department of Health and Human Services to detect and prevent fraud and misuse. In addition, it provides a more stringent set of guidelines for physicians. For example, it requires that physicians consult with physician assistants and nurse practitioners who prescribe certain controlled substances. The bill also requires that physicians refer to a controlled substance database and inspect a patient’s history of prescription usage.
The STOP Act is a preventative and pro-active piece of legislation and it is the first step in a long process that attempts to address the continuing threat of opioid abuse in our state. I am proud to be a co-sponsor of the bill, which passed the House unanimously, and has been referred to the Senate.”
-Rep. Brenden Jones
Also, here is the link to the Castlight Health Study on the Opioid Crisis. The study is very revealing as it shows states which allow the use of medical marijuana have a lower incidence of drug abuse and also reveals the costs to employers from drug abuse.
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