II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3557 

To reduce deaths occurring from overdoses of drugs or controlled substances. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 22, 2006 

Mr. DURBIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To reduce deaths occurring from overdoses of drugs or 

controlled substances. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Drug Overdose Reduc5 tion Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The Centers for Disease Control and Pre9 vention reports that 28,723 deaths in the United 

10 States in 2003 were attributable to drug-induced 

11 causes. 


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1 (2) Deaths resulting from drug overdoses have 

2 increased 540 percent between 1980 and 1999. 

3 (3) According to the Federal Drug Abuse 

4 Warning Network, most drug-induced deaths involve 

5 multiple drugs. 

6 (4) An increase in the number of deaths attrib7 utable to heroin mixed with fentanyl, a narcotic con8 sidered 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, 

9 has been documented in 2005 and 2006. 

10 (5) An estimated 3,000,000 individuals in the 

11 United States have serious drug problems. 

12 (6) The damage caused by drug use is not lim13 ited to drug abusers. The collateral damage from 

14 drug use is enormous, and drug abuse costs society 

15 over $60,000,000,000 in social costs and lost pro16 ductivity. 

17 (7) Community-based programs working with 

18 high-risk populations have successfully prevented 

19 deaths from drug overdoses through education and 

20 access to effective reversal agents, such as naloxone. 

21 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this Act: 

23 (1) CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE.—The term 

24 ‘‘controlled substance’’ has the meaning given the 


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1 term in section 102 of the Controlled Substances 

2 Act (21 U.S.C. 802). 

3 (2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

4 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 

5 Prevention. 

6 (3) DRUG.—The term ‘‘drug’’ has the meaning 

7 given the term in section 201 of the Federal Food, 

8 Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 321)). 

9 (4) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti10 ty’’ means an entity that is a State, local, or tribal 

11 government, or a private nonprofit organization. 

12 SEC. 4. OVERDOSE PREVENTION GRANT PROGRAM. 

13 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—From amounts appro14 priated under this section for a fiscal year, the Director 

15 shall award grants or cooperative agreements to eligible 

16 entities to enable the eligible entities to reduce deaths oc17 curring from overdoses of drugs or controlled substances. 

18 (b) APPLICATION.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity desiring a 

20 grant or cooperative agreement under this section 

21 shall submit to the Director an application at such 

22 time, in such manner, and containing such informa23 tion as the Director may require. 

24 (2) CONTENTS.—The application described in 

25 paragraph (1) shall include— 


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1 (A) a description of the activities the eligi2 ble entity will carry out if the entity receives 

3 funds under this section; 

4 (B) a demonstration that the eligible entity 

5 has the capacity to carry out the activities de6 scribed in subparagraph (A); and 

7 (C) a certification that the eligible entity 

8 meets all State licensure or certification re9 quirements necessary to carry out the activities. 

10 (c) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants or cooperative 

11 agreements under subsection (a), the Director shall give 

12 priority to eligible entities that are public health agencies 

13 or community-based organizations and that have expertise 

14 in preventing deaths occurring from overdoses of drugs or 

15 controlled substances in populations at high risk of such 

16 deaths. 

17 (d) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—An eligible entity receiv18 ing a grant or cooperative agreement under this section 

19 shall carry out 1 or more of the following activities: 

20 (1) Training first responders, people affected by 

21 drug abuse, and law enforcement and corrections of22 ficials on the effective response to individuals who 

23 have overdosed on drugs or controlled substances. 


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1 (2) Implementing programs to provide overdose 

2 prevention, recognition, treatment, or response to in3 dividuals in need of such services. 

4 (3) Evaluating, expanding, or replicating a pro5 gram described in paragraph (1) or (2) that exists 

6 as of the date the application is submitted. 

7 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the last 

8 day of the grant or cooperative agreement period, each eli9 gible entity receiving a grant or cooperative agreement 

10 under this section shall prepare and submit a report to 

11 the Director describing the results of the program sup12 ported under this section. 

13 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

14 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

15 $25,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2007 and 2008, 

16 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal 

17 years 2009 through 2011. 

18 SEC. 5. REDUCING OVERDOSE DEATHS. 

19 (a) DATA COLLECTION.—The Director shall annually 

20 compile and publish data on the deaths occurring from 

21 overdoses of drugs or controlled substances for the pre22 ceding year. 

23 (b) PLAN TO REDUCE OVERDOSE DEATHS.—Not 

24 later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 

25 Act, the Director shall develop a plan to reduce the numVerDate Aug 31 2005 01:38 Jun 24, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3557.IS S3557

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1 ber of deaths occurring from overdoses of drugs or con2 trolled substances and shall submit the plan to Congress. 

3 The plan shall include— 

4 (1) an identification of the barriers to obtaining 

5 accurate data regarding the number of deaths occur6 ring from overdoses of drugs or controlled sub7 stances; 

8 (2) an identification of the barriers to imple9 menting more effective overdose prevention strate10 gies; and 

11 (3) recommendations for such legislative or ad12 ministrative action that the Director considers ap13 propriate. 

Æ 


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