TODAY: Join the June All-Participants Meeting at 3PM Eastern with Presentations from Senate Staff on FEND Off Fentanyl Act and SAMHSA on Peer Behavioral Health Workforce Standards
CEPOP will be hosting its June All-Participants Teleconference today at 3:00 pm ET. Today’s meeting includes presentations from SAMHSA on the recently published National Model Standards for Peer Support Certification and from the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs to speak about the Fentanyl Eradication Narcotic Deterrence (FEND) Off Fentanyl Act. Please contact Sanjyot Sangodkar for meeting details.
House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Health Hosts Hearing Examining the Opioid Epidemic
Overdose Crisis: An Examination of Legislation to Build upon the SUPPORT Act”, to discuss twenty-eight pieces of opioid response legislation, including bills aimed at raising awareness about opioid use disorder and substance use disorder, improving access to medication-assisted therapy, bolstering the treatment and recovery workforce, and examining the rise of fentanyl trafficking and xylazine. Members and key witnesses from several agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, extensively discussed xylazine and what future legislation, scheduling, and tracking may look like. Additional highlights from the hearing include Ranking Member Frank Pallone (NJ) expressing concerns about The Combatting Xylazine Act (H.R. 1839) and the potential for overcriminalization and Representative Paul Tonko (NY) following up on the Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Act and the need for additional guidance from DEA on implementation to continue to expand access to buprenorphine.
Articles & Resources
House Committee on Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee—Legislative Hearing: Responding to America’s Overdose Crisis: An Examination of Legislation to Build upon the SUPPORT Act
What We Read Last Week
Several articles were published last week pertaining to the opioid epidemic, covering a variety of different components of the topic. Links to relevant articles are provided below.
NIH—Xylazine Appears to Worsen the Life-Threatening Effects of Opioids in Rats
Washington Post—White House Meets with Drug Firms on Cost of Overdose-Reversal Drugs
This Week’s Calendar
In the week ahead, there are no relevant events or hearings noticed at this time. In the event that there are any changes to the schedule for this week, we will make additional information available.
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