Opioid Crisis

Overview

• Drug overdose deaths more than tripled from 1999 to 2014.
• In 2015, more than 52,000 people died from drug overdoses, and approximately 63% of those deaths involved an opioid.
• The primary federal agency involved in drug enforcement, including diversion control efforts for prescription opioids, is the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
• The primary agency supporting drug treatment and prevention is the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
• The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016 (CARA; P.L. 114-198) was enacted in the summer of 2016 and aimed to address the problem of opioid addiction in the United States.
• The 21st Century Cures Act (Cures Act; P.L. 114-255) — a broader law that authorized new funding for medical research and amended the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) drug approval process — authorized additional funding to combat opioid addiction.
• Congress also provided funds to specifically address opioid abuse in FY2017 appropriations.

Background Reports and Resources

• Trends in Mexican Opioid Trafficking and Implications for U.S.-Mexico Security
• Overview of the Opioid Litigation and Related Settlements and Settlement Proposals
• The Opioid Epidemic: Supply Control and Criminal Justice Policy—Frequently Asked Questions
• The Opioid Epidemic and the Food and Drug Administration: Legal Authorities and Recent Agency Action
• The Opioid Epidemic and the U.S. Labor Market
• Buprenorphine and the Opioid Crisis: A Primer for Congress
• State and Local Governments Pursue Judicial Solutions to the Opioid Epidemic
• The Opioid Epidemic and Federal Efforts to Address It: Frequently Asked Questions
• Opioid Use and Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome
• Corporate Drug Trafficking Liability—a New Legal Front in the Opioid Crisis
• Centers for Disease Control (CDC): Understanding the Epidemic
• GAO:  OPIOID USE DISORDERS — HHS Needs Measures to Assess the Effectiveness of Efforts to Expand Access to Medication-Assisted Treatment
• GAO:  OPIOID ADDICTION:  Laws, Regulations, and Other Factors Can Affect Medication-Assisted Treatment Access
• CDC: Emergency Department Visits Involving Opioid Overdoses in the United States, 2010-2014