Special drug task force issues report

On Tuesday, December 15 the Joint Task Force for the Response to the Heroin and Opioid Epidemic issued its recommendations. 

The Task Force supports voting on the following before the end of January:

• Increasing penalties for the sale and possession of fentanyl
• Requiring insurers to cover the first two outpatient visits for substance use disorder without prior authorization
• Establishing a commission to study issues related to the overdose-reversing drug Narcan
• Requiring drug and alcohol education from kindergarten through twelfth grade
• Increasing access to the prescription drug monitoring program database, requiring prescribers to use the database, and authorizing state funding for the database

The Task Force supports voting on the following measures “early” in the 2016 session, but most likely after January:

• Establishing a drug court grant program
• Requiring the New Hampshire Pharmacy Board to adopt protocols for dispensing the overdose-reversing drug Narcan
• Increasing insurance coverage for substance abuse treatment without prior authorization
• Establishing a grant program within the State Police to help local law enforcement address opioid addiction

Some other bills will go through the regular process without early votes.  For example, one such bill would limit opioid prescriptions to a 34-day supply or 100 doses, whichever is less.

To learn more about these various proposals, visit our issue pages:

Heroin Addiction: Law Enforcement 

Heroin Addiction: Treatment Funding 

Prescription Drug Abuse

Prescription Monitoring Program