The House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Commerce, Justice and Science included the Second Chance Act in their 2013 justice funding bills released April 17.

Congress passed the Second Chance Act in 2008; it supports evidence-based strategies proved to reduce recidivism.

WASHINGTON, D.C. —Law enforcement officials, judicial leaders and behavioral health experts briefed Congressional staff in March on the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act and the collaborative criminal justice-mental health programs that it supports.

The American Institute of Architects' Design Assistance Program, which aids communities in rebuilding after natural disasters, seems destined to be in high demand again this year after tornadoes and severe thunderstorms tore across Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky in early March. AIA’s Design Assistance Program brings together a team of experts from a variety of disciplines to evaluate how best to rebuild communities hit by natural disasters. The goal is to help communities rebuild to be safer, healthier and more attractive to residents and businesses.

Telling numbers illustrate the need for action with regard to prescription drug abuse.

• The rate of prescription drug abuse in Kentucky has doubled among men and tripled among women in the past 10 years. 
• Florida estimates suggest as many as seven people overdose daily on prescription drugs.
• Deaths from prescription drug overdoses are the leading cause of accidental death in 17 states.
• Nearly one-third of all people age 12 and older who abuse drugs for the first time abuse prescription drugs.

Staff from CSG’s National Center for Interstate Compacts (NCIC) hosted a webinar highlighting the growing epidemic of prescription drug abuse.  During the March 7 session participants heard from two subject matter experts about the dangers of prescription drug abuse, state sponsored prescription monitoring programs, and CSG’s efforts to develop a prescription monitoring compact that would allow states to securely share prescription drug data across state lines.  

Late last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bipartisan bill ending the stalemate over the payroll tax cut and assorted entitlement programs, and the Senate quickly followed suit.

Prescription drug abuse continues to be recognized as the nation’s fastest-growing drug problem.  The latest “Monitoring the Future” study from the University of Michigan indicated that prescription drugs are second only to marijuana in their frequency of abuse. In Kentucky, the rate of overdoses from prescription drugs doubled among men and tripled among women between 2000 and 2009. In Florida, estimates suggest as many as seven people are dying daily from accidental overdoses. Deaths from prescription drug overdoses are the leading cause of accidental death in 17 states.

A recent National Survey on Drug Use and Health found prescription medication abuse is a significant societal health issue, with more Americans abusing prescription drugs than cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens and inhalants combined. It also found that one in five teens will abuse a prescription medication at least once in their lifetime.  Preventing prescription drug abuse and misuse, an epidemic in our country, is one of the key strategic priorities of the Cardinal Health Foundation.