WASHINGTON, DC— U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) today urged the Senate Judiciary Committee to address the link between prescription drug abuse and heroin addiction, citing an increase in heroin trafficking and recent heroin-related incidents in Western Pennsylvania.
“In writing this legislation, I urge you to consider the link between prescription drug abuse and heroin addiction,” Senator Casey wrote in a prepared statement for a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism. “While not every heroin user becomes an addict through prescription drugs, we cannot effectively address one problem without addressing the other.”
At Senator Casey’s request, the National Drug Intelligence Center released a report earlier this year finding that heroin trafficking and abuse have increased sharply in recent years in Pennsylvania, with many youths in particular transitioning from abuse of prescription opiates to heroin.
Last week, Senator Casey sent a letter urging the Judiciary Committee to take action to address the link between prescription drug abuse and heroin addiction.
Senator Casey’s full statement is below:
Chairman Whitehouse and Ranking Member Kyl, I commend you for holding this important and timely hearing on prescription drug abuse. Despite the best efforts of law enforcement and substance abuse professionals, drug abuse remains a vexing problem facing urban, rural, and suburban communities alike. Drug addiction and abuse have impacted nearly every region of my home state of Pennsylvania, and police report that drug-related crime is on the rise. I urge you to act quickly to write and pass legislation to stem the cycle of addiction where it often begins: the abuse of prescription drugs.
Over the past decade, doctors have increasingly prescribed powerful painkillers like OxyContin, a drug with characteristics similar to heroin, to help patients with severe pain. Because these opioid drugs are very powerful, those who use them both for legitimate and illegitimate purposes often become addicted. Prescription painkillers are easily obtained through friends, family, so-called “doctor shopping”, and over the Internet. These drugs are very expensive, however, and users are increasingly making a dangerous transition from prescription painkillers to heroin.
According to the National Drug Intelligence Center’s Eastern Pennsylvania Drug and Gang Threat Assessment 2011, heroin trafficking and abuse have increased sharply in recent years, with many youth in particular transitioning from abuse of prescription opiates to heroin. Two recent heroin-related incidents in Western Pennsylvania are of particular concern to me. In early May, a 20-year old college student was killed in McKees Rocks when he tried to trade an iPad for $200 worth of heroin. Last week, a seven-year-old kindergarten student brought heroin to his elementary school and distributed it to three classmates. He told police he’d found the drug in his parents’ bedroom.
I understand you are developing legislation in partnership with the Office of National Drug Control Policy to address prescription drug abuse, and I commend this effort. In writing this legislation, I urge you to consider the link between prescription drug abuse and heroin addiction. While not every heroin user becomes an addict through prescription drugs, we cannot effectively address one problem without addressing the other. I look forward to working with you on this issue and would like to offer my staff as a resource as you write this important legislation.
Robert P. Casey,
United States Senator
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