Hank Johnson: “This amendment authorizes grants for programs to develop secure prescription drug containers to prevent individuals…”

“This amendment authorizes grants for programs to develop secure prescription drug containers to prevent individuals, particularly children, from gaining access to opioid medications that have been lawfully prescribed to others. This amendment addresses a serious problem--the unauthorized access to or use of lawfully prescribed prescription opioid medications by a person other than the individual for whom the drugs were prescribed. The use of prescription opioid medications is controlled for a good reason. The misuse of such medications can have serious, even fatal, consequences. Perhaps the most tragic situation is one in which a child finds and, out of innocent curiosity, takes a prescription medication that is in the home, with the drugs having been prescribed for a parent or other family member, and that person then suffers an overdose. This amendment will help prevent this problem by providing funding for programs that utilize technology to help develop secure containers for prescription drugs. The advancement of such potentially lifesaving technology deserves our full support. For that reason, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.”