PORTLAND, ME – During a roundtable discussion today focused on how the federal government can close the prescription painkillers to opioid addiction gateway, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) announced a new federal proposal that would help people across the country more quickly, safely, and responsibly dispose of excess prescription drugs. During the discussion, Senator King also announced his support for bipartisan legislation that would expand specialized treatment for prescription drug and heroin addiction.

“Opioid addiction knows no bounds. It can grip anyone at any time, and sadly, in more cases than not, it starts at home with an unsuspecting pain medication meant to help someone,” Senator King said. “Today, there are far too many of those painkillers sitting unused in homes across this country, and the longer they do, the more serious a risk they pose to peoples’ health and safety. The federal government needs to work more closely with doctors to curb the number of drugs unnecessarily provided on the front end, and then work to ensure there’s an easy and responsible way to dispose of excess drugs on the back end as well. I believe a drug mail-back program holds the potential to help people more easily and safely dispose of their unwanted medications, and I will engage with people to see how the government can best accomplish that goal.”

The proposal announced by Senator King today would create a national program that builds on the successful Maine pilot project known as Safe Medicine Disposal for ME, which allowed people to mail back their unused prescription drugs to Maine DEA. Currently, federal regulations allow pharmacies, hospitals, clinics, and other authorized collectors to serve as collection points for unused prescription medications, and special events like National Prescription Drug Take-Back day, also aim to provide a responsible means for the disposal of unneeded drugs. However, those methods, while very useful, can still be an obstacle to the disposal of unwanted drugs, particularly in rural areas and for people with limited access to transportation. Senator King’s proposal would streamline the process by allowing people to directly mail back excess drugs from their homes, thereby getting them off medicine cabinet shelves and reducing the hazard posed to health and safety. 

During the discussion, Senator King also announced his support the Recovery Enhancement for Addiction Treatment (TREAT) Act of 2015, bipartisan legislation that would expand specialized treatment for prescription drug and heroin addiction. Introduced by Senators Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.), the legislation would expand the ability of addiction medical specialists and other trained medical professionals to provide life-saving medication-assisted therapies such as buprenorphine (also called Suboxone) for patients battling heroin and prescription drug addiction. Unfortunately, due in part to federal restrictions, of the approximately 2.4 million people dealing with prescription drug and heroin dependency in 2013, only half received specialty treatment for their condition. 

More specifically, the TREAT Act would help increase the number of patients who have access to treatment by allowing substance abuse treatment specialists and certain other trained physicians who are practicing in a team-based facility that has built in quality measures to see a greater number of patients. Physicians under the bill are also required to fully participate in state-based prescription drug monitoring databases to track prescription drug use. The bill would also allow trained nurse practitioners and physician assistants to treat, for the first time, opioid dependent patients with approved medication assisted treatments. Combined with behavioral therapy, effective medication assisted treatment programs for opioid addiction can decrease overdose deaths, be cost-effective, reduce transmissions of HIV and hepatitis C, and reduce other social harms such as criminal activity. While emphasizing addiction medicine expertise and quality, the legislation lifts existing and arbitrary federal restrictions that are non-existent for any other disease and limit access to life saving therapies. For more information on the bill, click HERE.

Senator King’s mail-back proposal, which he will continue to gather feedback on in the coming weeks and then introduce as legislation, along with his support of the TREAT Act, represent a two-pronged approach to closing the gateway from prescription painkiller use and abuse to opioid addiction. 

Senator King’s roundtable today followed an initial roundtable discussion last August on the opioid epidemic in Maine and focused more specifically on the use and abuse of prescription painkillers as a gateway to addiction. According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, four in five heroin users started out by misusing prescription opioid pain medications. Additionally, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 44 people in the U.S. die each day from an overdose of prescription pain medication.

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