As we all know, younger people are facing unprecedented challenges that can give rise to substance abuse disorders. The pressures of social media, the stressors and isolation related to the global pandemic, and the fact that the the adolescent brain is still developing are just a few of the factors that have led to an increase in the number of younger people who struggle with opioid addiction and in the number of tragic overdose deaths.

Data has shown that younger people are susceptible to opioid misuse that can lead to addiction which I prefer to call substance abuse disorder. “Nearly half of opioids prescribed to children and young adults after surgery, dental care or for other conditions have been deemed “high risk” in a study conducted by researchers from Michigan Medicine at the University of Michigan.” Another thing to remember and the research supports that “initiation of opioid misuse commonly occurs through the use of prescription opioids. Within the current opioid epidemic, among those with a history of heroin use, most report their first opioid exposure being a prescription opioid.”

Since 2014 I have sponsored a bill in the New York State Legislature, A.3221 (Sponsored in the Senate by Senator Gustavo Rivera), that would limit the initial prescription of a controlled substance for the alleviation of acute pain to a seven-day supply for users twenty years of age or older and to a three-day supply for users nineteen years of age or younger.

I previously sent letters to the New York State Department of Health on this issue, most recently when I amended the bill in 2019 to focus on limiting initial opioid supplies for younger people who are 19 years old or younger to reflect a CVS Caremark policy change. CVS Caremark is a prescription benefit manager (PBM) who engages a pharmacy and therapeutic council made composed of a variety of health care professionals to make substantial recommendations.  Every little bit helps in the fight against the opioid epidemic and I believe that this change would be a step in the right direction toward the prevention of opioid substance abuse issues in the first place.