| R 354 |
| 2021 -- H 5471 SUBSTITUTE A Enacted 07/09/2021 |
| J O I N T R E S O L U T I O N |
| MAKING AN APPROPRIATION OF $500,000 IN RESTRICTED RECEIPT FUNDING IN THE APPROPRIATION OF FUNDS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2022 TO THE DEPARTMENT OF BEHAVIORAL HEALTHCARE, DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES AN HOSPITALS |
Introduced By: Representatives Cortvriend, McGaw, Cassar, and Casimiro |
| Date Introduced: February 10, 2021 |
| WHEREAS, Over eighty-one thousand (81,000) drug overdose deaths occurred in the |
| United States in the twelve (12) months ending in May, 2020, the highest number of overdose |
| deaths ever recorded in a twelve (12)-month period; |
| WHEREAS, The Rhode Island Department of Health reported three hundred eighty-four |
| (384) accidental drug overdose deaths in 2020, representing a jump of twenty-five percent (25%) |
| over the prior year, to its highest level since records have been kept; |
| WHEREAS, The misuse of and addiction to opioids -- including prescription pain |
| relievers, heroin, and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl -- is a serious national crisis that affects |
| public health as well as social and economic welfare; |
| WHEREAS, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the total |
| "economic burden" of prescription opioid misuse alone in the United States is seventy-eight |
| billion five hundred million dollars ($78,500,000,000) a year, including the costs of healthcare, |
| lost productivity, addiction treatment, and criminal justice involvement; now, therefore be it |
| RESOLVED, That the first five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) in restricted receipt |
| funding appropriated in the behavioral healthcare services program within the department of |
| behavioral healthcare, developmental disabilities and hospitals for fiscal year 2022 shall be used |
| to support the state's seven (7) regional substance abuse prevention coalitions. The funds shall be |
| apportioned equally in the amount of seventy-one thousand four hundred twenty-eight dollars |
| ($71,428) to each regional coalition. |
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| LC000693/SUB A |
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