A national survey on drug use and health, conducted in 2013 by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, found that an estimated 1.9 million people in the United States suffered from substance use disorders related to prescription pain medicines and 517,000 suffered from a heroin use disorder.

In the last year, Congress has held several hearings on the what is now considered to be a public health epidemic. These included:

• Two House Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee hearings: one on April 23, titled “Combatting the Opioid Abuse Epidemic: Professional and Academic Perspectives” and one on May 1, titled “What is the Federal Government Doing to Combat the Opioid Abuse Epidemic?”
• A Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control hearing on May 14, titled “America’s Addiction to Opioids: Heroin and Prescription Drug Abuse.”
• A Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on September 14, titled “All Hands on Deck: Working Together to End the Trafficking and Abuse of Prescription Opioids, Heroin, and Fentanyl.”

Among other issues, the hearings explored evidence of a relationship between increased nonmedical use of opioid analgesics and heroin abuse, as well as insecure borders as a gateway for drug traffickers. Obama Administration spokespersons testified about Federal Government actions, including a comprehensive Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Plan, which includes: improved education for patients and health care providers; expanded drug-monitoring programs; safe opioid prescribing guidelines and updated labeling; support for community coalitions to help prevent youth substance abuse; removing expired and unneeded medications from circulation; and reducing the prevalence of “pill mills” and doctor shopping.

Legislation is also pending in Congress to address the problem. Rates for opiate addiction are particularly high in New England, and bills that have been introduced this session by senators from those States include:

• S. 524, the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, introduced by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (RI-D), providing “a series of incentives and resources designed to encourage States and local communities to pursue a full array of proven strategies to combat addiction.”
• S. 1654, the Overdose Prevention Act, introduced by Senator Jack Reed (RI-D), to expand access prevention programs and to naloxone (which counters the effects of an opioid overdose) and to encourage improved data on overdose incidents.
• S. 1134, the Heroin and Prescription Opioid Abuse Prevention, Education, and Enforcement Act, introduced by Senator Kelly Ayotte (NH-R), to reauthorize prescription drug monitoring programs and grants for local law enforcement and create an interagency task force to develop best practices in prescribing pain medication.