In what can only be described as unusual in this current political climate, the entire State legislature unanimously passed HB 5430, An Act Concerning Opioids. The bill passed the Connecticut House of Representatives on April 19, and the State Senate also with unanimous bipartisan support.

The bill now heads to Governor Lamont’s office to be signed into law.

According to local legislators, this bill codifies a number of critical policies to combat the opioid epidemic in the state, including the expansion of evidence-based treatments and harm reduction measures. Other provisions of the bill include measures to enable and expand mobile access to methadone (a medication used to treat individuals with substance use disorder), to legalize fentanyl testing strips in order to prevent accidental overdose and to expand other harm reduction measures.

According to legislators, the bill also seeks to implement a “peer navigator” pilot program in urban, suburban, and rural communities across the state to serve people living with opioid use disorder; and to codify the term “substance use disorder” in lieu of “substance abuse” in an effort to reduce stigma.

Madison/Durham Representative, John-Michael Parker (D), House District 101, who led efforts to pass the bill in the House and was key in coordinating the efforts of the Public Health Committee, of which he is member, said the bill is just one step in combating the staggering number of fatal overdoses and poisonings associated with opioid use.

“While we have responded to and fought back against the COVID-19 pandemic over the past few years, we’ve continued to struggle with—and, frankly, lose ground to—the opioid epidemic,” said Parker, who led passage of the bill in the House and coordinated the Public Health Committee’s efforts this year. “The cost of this crisis is staggering, and we cannot continue on this path of rising deaths, bereft families, and torn apart communities. Though there is much more work to be done in the years ahead, this bipartisan bill takes the right next steps and will save lives here in our state.”

State Senator Christine Cohen (12th District D-Guilford) lauded Parker’s work on the measure and said the bill will save lives.

“While we have a long way to go on combatting the opioid crisis, I am incredibly proud of the progress evidenced in House Bill 5430,” said Cohen. “By way of a collaborative process, we were able to ensure better access to care for behavioral health and substance use disorders and plan for ways to address the serious public health impacts of addiction in a meaningful way. We need to be hyper-focused on this important issue and not continue to allow any further loss of life. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw a significant uptick in mental health and addiction needs, and it is incumbent upon us to take immediate action. I am grateful for my colleague, Representative Parker, and for advocates like Demand Zero and For Cameron, who have worked tirelessly to bring us together and realize change.”

According to State statistics, the number of lives lost to unintentional drug overdoses in Connecticut has continued to increase, up to 1,528 in 2021.

Vin Candelora (R), 86th District, said that though the bill addressed key issues of the crisis, there was still more work to be done by legislators to mitigate the effects of the opioid epidemic.

“Generally speaking, it’s really addressing the backend of the crisis. It will help those who are seeking mental health and substance abuse treatment will have that access,” said Candelora. “So, it is enhancing and expanding…treatment and pain management options, so I think on that end it does well. House Republicans had called for an amendment on that bill to just point out what it’s missing. One of the areas we need to focus on in a Statewide basis is a Drug Policy officer that would oversee all of the addiction networks, because what we believe is we have to address stricter penalties for fentanyl dealers and try and attack addiction at the source. There is still a lot to be done. We did a lot on the amount of opioids that can be prescribed…there were a lot of reforms put in place to try and address the issue through prescription drug use, but what’s clear is that these pills coming out of Mexico that contain fentanyl are just as addictive and can result in a death sentence. I don’t think we’ve addressed all of these illegal pills coming into Connecticut. It’s going to continue to haunt us, I believe. Many people don’t realize that when you here of opioid addiction that it’s prescribed OxyContin, but this crisis has really grown out of fentanyl and these illegal pills from Mexico and other countries. We have to figure out how to get these deadly drugs off the streets-fentanyl is poison…we have to start treating it that way.’

According to Sean Scanlon, House District 98 (D), said the bill is an important action as deaths and abuse due to opioids continue to rise in the state.

“Before I became chair of the Finance Committee I spent a lot of my time in office on the opioid issue and was proud to help pass laws each of the past few legislative sessions. Like me, Representative Parker came into office last year with an interest in this issue and I very happily passed the baton to him. He hit the ground running, did a tremendous amount of work to get up to speed on the issue and was the main driver behind this year’s bipartisan opioid bill,” Scanlon said. “Opioids and addiction in general do not get as much attention as it did 4-5 years ago at the height of the opioid epidemic, but it’s just as pressing of an issue today as it was then. There is no one, silver bullet solution to ending the opioid problem, but we can and have made it better through cumulative action and I’m proud Rep. Parker is picking up the effort and is off to a great start.”

According to Cohen, there are several more bills including HB 5044, which creates an Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee that will direct unprecedented levels of funding to “substance use disorder abatement infrastructure, programs, services, supports and resources for prevention, treatment, recovery and harm reduction”, that will be on the agenda.

“There is a lot left to do. We call this a crisis and I think that’s a tame word for it. Opioid deaths continue to rise and a large percentage as a result of fentanyl. We are in crisis mode, so we need to do whatever we can to prevent loss of life,” said Cohen. “The opioid settlement fund is a topic right now, we are looking at roughly $300 million over the next eight years, so we need to utilize those funds for addiction and prevention. We are happy with this current progress, but certainly realize there is so much more to do.”