Victims no more
State fighting opioid scourge
As the opioid crisis continues to grow in size and complexity, Arkansas has taken proactive measures to protect her citizens from this lethal and tragic addiction. It will take efforts across every level of government to bring an end to the opioid problem, and we are proud that Arkansas is on the front lines of this battle with a multifaceted approach that involves proper disposal of medications, litigation against manufacturers who have misled patients, and cracking down on drug traffickers who destroy our communities.
Arkansas has been disproportionately affected by this complex problem, and while the scale of the crisis is already immense, experts don’t expect the problem to peak for another four to eight years. In 2016, between 59,000 and 65,000 Americans died of drug overdoses. That’s more than died in the Vietnam War. And even more worrisome, that’s up more than 6,000 deaths from 2015, and double the death rate from a decade ago. More than 400 Arkansans died of drug overdoses in 2016, which, like the national trend, is up from 356 in 2014 and 113 in 1999.
Our state is particularly susceptible to drug overdoses. Arkansas has the second highest prescribing rate in the country, with 114.6 prescriptions written for every 100 Arkansans. We also rank first in the nation in the misuse of painkillers among children ages 12 to 17, and for a simple reason—children can easily obtain unused medication. According to the office of Arkansas’ Drug Director, more than half of all teens in Arkansas say that it’s easy to take prescription drugs from their parents’ or grandparents’ medicine cabinets.
Sadly, when individuals are unable to obtain prescription medications, their addiction pushes them to street alternatives including heroin and fentanyl. The drug fentanyl is especially aggressive, killing 20,000 Americans alone in 2016. But it’s not just dangerous to those who use it; fentanyl’s toxicity levels also endanger the lives of our law-enforcement officers. In Ohio, a police officer almost died simply because he brushed some fentanyl off his shirt after a drug bust. That’s how lethal this opioid alternative is.
If we hope to stop or even slow these tragic deaths, then we need to treat these drugs like the killers they are, and drug traffickers like the criminals they are.
That’s why last September, Attorney General Rutledge launched the Prescription for Life program, a digital and interactive course designed to empower and teach high school students how to make safe decisions about prescription drugs. The course comes at no cost to schools and is currently active in 49 schools across 44 counties, reaching 3,900 students. Recently, 20 more schools have signed up and will begin participating in the program during the drug-awareness Red Ribbon Week in October.
Arkansas law enforcement is also working across all levels of government to help patients dispose of opioids safely and responsibly. In addition to supporting the biannual Prescription Drug Take Back Day, Attorney General Rutledge has been working with local law enforcement officers to provide prescription-drug take-back boxes at mobile offices in each county since 2016. So far, nearly 500 pounds of prescription drugs have been collected for safe disposal, keeping them away from abusers and off the streets.
To further strengthen our efforts, we must punish those who peddle these killer drugs to children and unsuspecting patients. That’s why Attorney General Rutledge began investigating drug companies in January for wrongdoing. As announced last week, she has filed a lawsuit against three opioid manufacturers on behalf of the state of Arkansas seeking restitution for the damage caused by opioid misuse, costs associated with ending the opioid epidemic, and fines. Tragically, these manufacturers placed profits ahead of the health and well-being of our citizens. And in addition, Senator Cotton has introduced legislation at the national level to increase the penalty for trafficking in these dangerous drugs.
Today, our federal drug penalties are antiquated and too limited to be effective. Under current law, you can serve less than five years in prison for having up to 40 grams of fentanyl. Despite the small quantity, 40 grams is powerful enough to kill 20,000 people. This is why the bill Senator Cotton has proposed would lower the threshold for the mandatoryminimum sentence to two grams. The people who profit off the spread of addiction should get the punishment they deserve.
Senator Cotton’s bill would also take active steps to interdict shipments of fentanyl before they make it to Arkansas. Most of the fentanyl used in the United States comes from China, and what’s particularly galling is drug traffickers use our own Postal Service to deliver shipments in the mail. Senator Cotton’s bill would give the Postal Service more resources to shut down this abuse of our mail system and stop these drugs from ever getting into our communities.
The opioid crisis is complex and requires coordinated state and federal efforts. But we’re determined that, far from being a victim of these drugs, Arkansas will continue to lead the country in rooting out the scourge of addiction. We must all do everything in our power to protect the citizens of our great state.