11774.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) There is an epidemic in this state stemming from the use of heroin and the abuse of opioid medications.
(b) Prescription drug overdoses now kill more people than car accidents.
(c) Every day, 2,500 children 12 to 17, inclusive, years of age abuse a prescription painkiller for the first time, and more people are becoming addicted to prescription drugs.
(d) Data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
suggests that the nonmedical use of prescription painkillers costs public and private health insurers seventy-two billion eight hundred million dollars ($72,800,000,000) annually.
(b)
(e) In order for the state to combat this epidemic, citizens in all walks of life shall be alerted to the problem, and shall be armed with information that will allow them to recognize, and undertake appropriate actions, when they or their loved ones are at risk of, or are succumbing to, a heroin or opioid medication addiction.
(c)
(f) The widespread dissemination of information necessary to combat the state’s heroin and opioid medication epidemic could be successfully achieved through the institution and maintenance of a multicultural statewide public awareness campaign, which would be carefully coordinated through all available multimedia channels to reach a wide variety of audiences, including drug users, their family members and friends, medical practitioners and nurses, emergency personnel, and employers.
(d)Prescription drug overdoses now kill more people than car accidents.
(e)Every day, 2,500 children 12 to 17 years of age abuse a prescription painkiller for the first time, and more people are becoming addicted to prescription drugs.
(f)Data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that
the nonmedical use of prescription painkillers costs public and private health insurers seventy-two billion eight hundred million dollars ($72,800,000,000) annually.
(g)As abuse rates have risen, the functions of the State Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs have been transferred to the State Department of Health Care Services.
(h)In order to be more successful in combating drug abuse, while addressing the current opioid and heroin epidemic, the department’s current public awareness campaign
is being used to combat the state’s growing heroin and opioid medication epidemic shall be designed to do all of the following:
(1)Educate the public as to the reasons why ordinary people may engage in the abuse of opioid medications and the associated use of heroin.
(2)Rebut the commonly accepted myths and stereotypes associated with heroin use and opioid medication abuse.
(3)Stigmatize and condemn the abuse and diversion of opioid medication, while still recognizing the legitimate use of those opioid drugs as medications.
11774.1.
(a) The department, The State Department of Public Health, upon appropriation by the Legislature or receipt of adequate state or federal grant funding, and in consultation with stakeholders, as appropriate, shall develop, coordinate, implement, and oversee a comprehensive multicultural public awareness campaign, to be known as “Heroin and Opioid Public Education (HOPE),” which shall allow for the coordinated and widespread dissemination of information designed to combat the growing heroin and opioid medication epidemic in the state.(b) Using the means described in subdivision (c), HOPE shall provide for the coordinated and widespread public dissemination of individual case stories and other generalized information that is designed to do all focuses on any of the following:
(1) Identify Identifying the pathways that can lead to opioid medication abuse and heroin use, and the reasons why opioid medication abuse may evolve into heroin use.
(2) Show Showing the many faces of heroin and opioid medication addiction, and rebut rebutting the commonly accepted myths and stereotypes about heroin users and opioid medication abusers.
(3) Condemn and stigmatize Educating the public on the negative impact of
abuse and diversion of opioid medication, while recognizing the legitimate use of those same opioid drugs as medications.
(4) Describe Describing the effects and warning signs of heroin use and opioid medication abuse, so as to better enable members of the public to determine when help is needed.
(5) Show Showing the link that exists between heroin and opioid medication addiction and suicidal behavior.
(6) Identify Identifying the pathways that are available for individuals to seek help in association with their own, or another person’s, heroin or opioid medication addiction, and indicate indicating the various telephone hotline systems that exist in the state for persons who wish to report a case of drug abuse or engage in substance abuse treatment.
(7) Highlight Highlighting
the availability of naloxone hydrochloride as a means to avert death from a heroin or opioid medication overdose, identify
identifying pathways for members of the public to obtain a prescription for naloxone hydrochloride and training in the emergency
administration of naloxone hydrochloride, and promote promoting the proper use of naloxone hydrochloride in crisis situations.
(8) Highlight Highlighting the benefits of substance abuse treatment and the potential for treatment to allow for the reclaiming of lives that have been upset by addiction, and underscore underscoring
the fact that relapses occur not because treatment is ineffective, but because of the nature of addiction, which is a recurring and relapsing disorder.
(9) Highlight Highlighting the benefits of medication-assisted therapy using medications approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration, such as methadone, buprenorphine, extended-release injectable naltrexone, or other similar drugs, and destigmatize destigmatizing the use of that medication-assisted therapy.
(10) Identify Identifying the methods that can be used by an individual to help finance the costs of substance abuse treatment.
(11) Identify Identifying the steps that individuals can take to prevent and deter family members, friends, students, patients, coworkers, and others from first experimenting with inappropriately obtained opioid medications, and from misusing or mismanaging lawful opioid medications.
(12) Identify Identifying the proper methods for safeguarding, and for safely disposing of, legitimate opioid medications.
(13) Address Addressing any other issues that the department may deem appropriate and necessary to proactively educate the public about the state’s heroin and opioid medication epidemic and the actions that can be taken by members of the public to reduce the likelihood of heroin or opioid medication addiction, or to otherwise respond to, or mitigate the effects of, heroin or
opioid medication addiction in cases in which it is present.
(c) (1) The HOPE program shall effectuate the dissemination of information described in subdivision (b) by using appropriate types of media to achieve the goal efficiently and effectively, including new technologies in media, print media, television and radio, and Internet and social media.
(2) In disseminating the information described in subdivision (b), the HOPE program shall employ a variety of complementary educational themes and messages that shall be tailored to appeal to different target audiences in the state. At a minimum, the HOPE program shall incorporate all of the following:
(A) At least one message that is directed at, and is tailored to influence and resonate with, individuals who are personally at risk of heroin use or opioid medication abuse or who have already started down a pathway to addiction.
(B) At least one message that is directed at, and is tailored to influence and resonate with, the family members and friends of addicted persons, teachers, school nurses, medical practitioners, and employers.
(C) At least one message that is directed at the dangers of teen drug pilfering from the household medicine cabinet and how this could be avoided through the use of safe storage products.
(3) Information under the HOPE
program shall be disseminated using culturally and linguistically appropriate means, in a manner that demonstrates respect for individual dignity and cultural differences. Where feasible and appropriate, the information shall be made available in a variety of languages.
(4) The department may enter into public-private partnerships with pharmaceutical or health care insurance companies, nonprofit social services organizations, mental health services providers and clinics, law enforcement, health care agencies, and school districts, that provide services in the state in order to facilitate the dissemination of information under the HOPE program.