II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2504 

To address prescription opioid and heroin abuse. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 19, 2014 

Ms. AYOTTE (for herself and Mr. DONNELLY) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To address prescription opioid and heroin abuse. 

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 ‘‘Heroin and Prescrip5 tion Opioid Abuse Prevention, Education, and Enforce6 ment Act of 2014’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 (1) The Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 

9 801 et seq.) declares that many controlled sub10 stances have a useful and legitimate medical purpose 


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1 and are necessary to maintain the health and gen2 eral welfare of the people of the United States. 

3 (2) Health care professionals, medical experts, 

4 researchers, and scientists have found pain to be a 

5 major national health problem. 

6 (3) The responsible treatment of pain is a high 

7 priority for our Nation and the needs of individuals 

8 with pain must be taken into careful consideration 

9 when taking steps to prevent prescription drug mis10 use and abuse. 

11 (4) When no longer needed or wanted for legiti12 mate pain management or health treatment, pre13 scription opioids are susceptible to diversion. Pre14 scription opioids also may be abused by individuals 

15 who were not prescribed such drugs or misused by 

16 individuals not taking such drugs as directed. 

17 (5) Approximately 4 out of 5 new heroin users 

18 report that they became addicted to prescription 

19 opioids before they used heroin for the first time. 

20 (6) According to the National Institute on Drug 

21 Abuse, heroin attaches to the same brain cell recep22 tors as prescription opioids. 

23 (7) The low cost and high purity of currently 

24 available heroin has contributed to an increase in 

25 heroin use. 


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1 (8) More people are using heroin, and are using 

2 heroin at a younger age. The National Survey on 

3 Drug Use and Health reports that new heroin users 

4 numbered 142,000 in 2010, and increased to 

5 178,000 in 2011. In 2011, the average age at first 

6 use among heroin abusers between 12 and 49 years 

7 was 22.1 years. In 2009, the average age at first use 

8 among heroin abusers between 12 and 49 years was 

9 25.5 years. 

10 (9) According to the Department of Health and 

11 Human Services, heroin use rose 79 percent nation12 wide between 2007 and 2012. 

13 (10) Deaths from heroin overdose have signifi14 cantly increased in communities across the United 

15 States. According to the Centers for Disease Control 

16 and Prevention, the number of deaths involving her17 oin increased by 110 percent from 2006 to 2011. 

18 From 2010 to 2011, the number of heroin deaths 

19 rose from 3,036 to 4,397. 

20 (11) The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice As21 sistance Grant Program is critical to fighting the 

22 prescription opioid abuse and heroin use epidemics, 

23 and should be reauthorized and fully funded. 


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1 SEC. 3. DEVELOPMENT OF BEST PRESCRIBING PRACTICES. 

2 (a) INTER-AGENCY TASK FORCE.—Not later than 

3 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec4 retary of Health and Human Services (referred to in this 

5 section as the ‘‘Secretary’’), in cooperation with the Sec6 retary of Veterans Affairs, the Secretary of Defense, and 

7 the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administra8 tion, shall convene a Pain Management Best Practices 

9 Inter-Agency Task Force (referred to in this section as 

10 the ‘‘task force’’). 

11 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The task force shall be com12 prised of— 

13 (1) representatives of— 

14 (A) the Department of Health and Human 

15 Services; 

16 (B) the Department of Veterans Affairs; 

17 (C) the Department of Defense; 

18 (D) the Drug Enforcement Administration; 

19 and 

20 (E) the Institute of Medicine; 

21 (2) the Director of the National Institutes of 

22 Health; 

23 (3) physicians and non-physician prescribers; 

24 (4) pharmacists; 

25 (5) experts in the fields of pain research and 

26 addiction research; 


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1 (6) representatives of— 

2 (A) pain management professional organi3 zations; 

4 (B) the mental health treatment commu5 nity; and 

6 (C) pain advocacy groups; and 

7 (7) other stakeholders, as the Secretary deter8 mines appropriate. 

9 (c) DUTIES.—The task force shall— 

10 (1) not later than 180 days after the date on 

11 which the task force is convened, develop best prac12 tices for pain management and prescription pain 

13 medication prescribing practices, taking into consid14 eration— 

15 (A) existing pain management research; 

16 (B) recommendations from relevant con17 ferences; and 

18 (C) ongoing efforts at the State and local 

19 levels and by medical professional organizations 

20 to develop improved pain management strate21 gies; 

22 (2) solicit and take into consideration public 

23 comment on the practices developed under para24 graph (1), amending such best practices if appro25 priate; and 


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1 (3) develop a strategy for disseminating infor2 mation about the best practices developed under 

3 paragraphs (1) and (2) to prescribers, pharmacists, 

4 State medical boards, and other parties, as the Sec5 retary determines appropriate. 

6 (d) LIMITATION.—The task force shall not have rule7 making authority. 

8 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 270 days after the date 

9 on which the task force is convened under subsection (a), 

10 the task force shall submit to Congress a report that in11 cludes— 

12 (1) the strategy for disseminating best practices 

13 developed under subsection (c); 

14 (2) the results of a feasibility study on linking 

15 best practices developed under paragraphs (1) and 

16 (2) of subsection (c) to receiving and renewing reg17 istrations under section 303(f) of the Controlled 

18 Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 823(f)); and 

19 (3) recommendations on how to apply such best 

20 practices to improve prescribing practices at medical 

21 facilities of the Veterans Health Administration. 

22 SEC. 4. HAROLD ROGERS PRESCRIPTION DRUG MONI23 TORING PROGRAM. 

24 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 

25 out the Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring ProVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:14 Jun 25, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2504.IS S2504

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1 gram established under the Departments of Commerce, 

2 Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies 

3 Appropriations Act, 2002 (Public Law 107–77; 115 Stat. 

4 748), there is authorized to be appropriated $9,000,000 

5 for each of fiscal years 2015 through 2019. 

6 (b) GAO REPORT.—Not later than October 1, 2016, 

7 the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit 

8 to Congress a report on the effectiveness of the Harold 

9 Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring Program in reduc10 ing prescription drug abuse, and, to the extent practicable, 

11 any corresponding increase or decrease in the use of her12 oin. 

13 SEC. 5. REAUTHORIZATION OF BYRNE JUSTICE ASSIST14 ANCE GRANT PROGRAM. 

15 Section 508 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 

16 and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3758) is amend17 ed by striking ‘‘2006 through 2012’’ and inserting ‘‘2015 

18 through 2019’’. 

19 SEC. 6. OFFICE OF NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL POLICY. 

20 (a) UPDATE OF PLAN TO ACCOUNT FOR INCREASED

21 HEROIN USE.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

22 of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of Na23 tional Drug Control Policy shall revise the 2011 Prescrip24 tion Drug Abuse Prevention Plan to reassess the approach 

25 under such plan to addressing prescription drug abuse in 


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1 light of an increase in heroin use, and to outline actions 

2 or programs that can be carried out to reduce and prevent 

3 such abuse. 

4 (b) GAO RECOMMENDATIONS FOR INTER-AGENCY

5 COORDINATION.—The Director shall ensure that the Of6 fice of National Drug Control Policy takes into account 

7 the report of the Government Accountability Office enti8 tled ‘‘Office of National Drug Control Policy: Office Could 

9 Better Identify Opportunities to Increase Program Co10 ordination’’ issued on March 26, 2013 (GAO–13–333), 

11 and identifies opportunities to enhance interagency coordi12 nation as part of the Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention 

13 Plan, as revised under subsection (a). 

14 SEC. 7. AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

16 Human Services shall advance the education and aware17 ness of providers, patients, and other appropriate stake18 holders regarding the risk of abuse of prescription opioid 

19 drugs if such products are not taken as prescribed. 

20 (b) DRUG-FREE MEDIA CAMPAIGN.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Office of National Drug 

22 Control Policy, in coordination with the Secretary of 

23 Health and Human Services and the Attorney Gen24 eral, shall establish a national drug awareness cam25 paign. 


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1 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The national drug aware2 ness campaign under paragraph (1) shall— 

3 (A) take into account the association be4 tween prescription opioid abuse and heroin use; 

5 and 

6 (B) emphasize the similarities between her7 oin and prescription opioids and the effects of 

8 heroin and prescription opioids on the human 

9 body. 

10 (3) AVAILABLE FUNDS.—Funds for the na11 tional drug awareness campaign may be derived 

12 from amounts appropriated to the Office of National 

13 Drug Control Policy and otherwise available for obli14 gation and expenditure. 

Æ 


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