CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Several bills addressing the states drug epidemic are still moving through the legislative process this session, according to Del. Chris Stansbury (R-Kanawha).
Stansbury, who’s been leading a comprehensive approach to try and deal with the drug problem, said many of his bills had seen success.
“We had a bunch of bills that we ran through the Substance Abuse Committee, most of those went on to the Judiciary, some were massaged and combined into other bills then brought to the floor,” Stansbury said.
With the opioid overdose antidote Naloxone in the hands of many law enforcement officials and first responders statewide, Stansbury described one bill that would allow pharmacists to be trained and use the drug.
“It permits pharmacists to dispense Naloxone behind the counter without prescription,” he explained. “Once they give some training to the person requesting it on how to use it, when to use it and what to do afterwards.”
Stansbury also described a bill that would require EMT or ER personnel to report non-fatal overdoes, which would be filed into a database.
“A prescribing physician or a pharmacist could get in there and see that their patient has had an overdose, what they overdosed on and make a decision at that point whether they want to write a prescription for another narcotic or make a recommendation for treatment,” said Stansbury. “It’s just another way to intervene and make sure if someone does overdose and is revived, we can step in and try to get them some help.”
Stansbury said the effort had dealt with all aspects of the drug crisis, including education, helping those addicted, and especially cracking down on supply.
“We also wanted to address the supply side so that those drug entrepreneurs outside of the state who are thinking about targeting West Virginia with their business endeavors would look twice at the state and say these guys are serious. I don’t want to get caught up in trafficking down there and face serious time.”
Most of the bills dealing with substance abuse had received bipartisan support in this session, Stansbury said, because so many members of the Legislature have been affected either directly or indirectly by it.
“I think it would be difficult at this point to find someone in the House or Senate who hasn’t been affected by the substance abuse epidemic,” he said. “I think everyone has a personal story of someone they know, or a family member or someone in their community that’s faced and battled these addiction issues. It really resonates with all the members.”
The 2016 Regular Legislative Session concludes at midnight on Saturday.