Pappas, Bacon, Lead Bipartisan Call for HHS to Update Opioid PHE Declaration to Include Methamphetamines

Today, Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01) and Congressman Don Bacon (NE-02) led their colleagues in a bipartisan call for the Department of Health and Human Services to update the department's Public Health Emergency declaration that an opioid public health emergency exists nationwide to include stimulants, and especially methamphetamines.

The lawmakers wrote, "as correctly noted by the Administration, the overdose emergency has evolved into a ‘polydrug landscape.' It is time to update the opioid PHE to reflect the current state of what is now an overdose public health emergency by expanding it to include all substance use disorders, including alcohol and stimulants such as methamphetamines."

They continued to say, "according to the CDC, methamphetamines and other stimulants play a role in nearly half of all the overdose deaths that are associated with fentanyl. The CDC also reports that alcohol is responsible for over 95,000 deaths every year and the National Institutes of Health show that alcohol is involved in more than one-fifth of all prescription opioid deaths."

This change would more accurately reflect the current reality of the substance use disorder crisis across our country, raise awareness of the recent increase in methamphetamine trafficking, and ensure health care workers and first responders can access the appropriate resources needed to properly combat the evolving substance use disorder crisis.

This call is supported by Responsibility.org, Faces and Voices of Recovery (FAVOR), the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers (NAATP), Young People in Recovery (YPR), Treatment Communities of America (TCA), Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative (PAARI), the Association for Addiction Professionals (NAADAC), C4 Recovery Foundation, and the Police, Treatment and Community Collaborative (PTACC).

The full text of the letter can be found here and below:

Dear Secretary Becerra,

Thank you for your leadership in our nation's efforts to combat the ongoing drug overdose crisis that is ravaging our communities, from coast-to-coast. While much of the attention has been correctly focused on the role of opioids and especially fentanyl, we are writing today to underscore the devastating role that methamphetamines, other illicit stimulants and alcohol are playing in the crisis.

In 2017, when the current opioid Public Health Emergency (PHE) was first declared, the total number of overdose deaths was about 71,000. In just the past few years, exacerbated by the COVID pandemic, the number of drug overdose deaths climbed rapidly to over 100,000. Importantly, as correctly noted by the Administration, the overdose emergency has evolved into a "polydrug landscape." It is time to update the opioid PHE to reflect the current state of what is now an overdose public health emergency by expanding it to include all substance use disorders, including alcohol and stimulants such as methamphetamines.

This past summer in Manteca, California, 182 pounds of illicit methamphetamines were seized during just one traffic stop. While this is in an enormous amount of drugs, it is a fraction of what is pouring into our country. This massive flow of illicit methamphetamines is taking a terrible toll on American families. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), overdose deaths due to illicit methamphetamines have more than doubled from 2016 to 2019, and during the most recent 12-month period for which data are available, the number of methamphetamine-related overdose deaths has increased by an additional 46%.

More importantly, according to the CDC, methamphetamines and other stimulants play a role in nearly half of all the overdose deaths that are associated with fentanyl. The CDC also reports that alcohol is responsible for over 95,000 deaths every year and the National Institutes of Health show that alcohol is involved in more than one-fifth of all prescription opioid deaths.

Americans can surmount any challenge that comes our way, but we must first accurately define the problem. The current overdose crisis is driven by not just opioids, but stimulants (especially methamphetamines) and alcohol as well, and we urge you to incorporate these substances into the PHE when it is renewed.

We greatly appreciate the Administration's efforts on behalf of the people, families and communities who are caught in this crisis, and we look forward to working with you to bring it to an end.

Sincerely,