State of Vermont Senate Chamber Montpelier, Vermont Joint Senate Resolution By Senators Vyhovsky, Cummings, Gulick, Hardy, Harrison, Hashim, Kitchel, McCormack, Perchlik,
White, and Wrenner,
J.R.S. 44. Joint resolution declaring the increasing number of drug overdose deaths in Vermont to be a public health emergency. Joint resolution declaring that the increasing number of opioid-related drug overdose deaths in Vermont constitutes a public health emergency.
Whereas, the use of drugs, especially opioids, in Vermont, regardless of whether the use originated with an
initial prescription, an over-the-counter purchase, or the purchase of an unregulated drug, has led to an increasingly severe opioid-use crisis that has killed far too many Vermonters, and Whereas, the victims are not only the individuals who die but also their families and friends, creating a broader human tragedy, and Whereas, Department of Health (the Department) data reveals the severity of drug overdose deaths in
Vermont, and Whereas, the number of Vermonters who have perished due to drug overdoses, be they designated as
accidental or undetermined, continues to accelerate, rising from 42 in 2010 to 264 in 2022 and representing a
500 percent increase over this time frame, and Whereas, of these drug overdose deaths, those that involved an opioid grew from 37 in 2010 to 239 in 2022
(excluding those deaths deemed to be by suicide), and Whereas, the opioids causing these deaths are now more toxic than in prior years, as fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is 50 times more potent than heroin, was involved in 93 percent of the 2022 opioid overdose fatalities and, according to preliminary data, in 110 of the 115 drug overdose deaths recorded for the first six months of 2023, and Whereas, other drugs contributing to overdose deaths in 2022 included cocaine (49 percent); heroin (nine percent); gabapentin (13 percent, up from two percent in 2021); methamphetamine (eight percent); and xylazine, which the FDA has only approved for veterinary use (28 percent, up from 13 percent in 2021), and Whereas, 87 percent of opioid-based drug overdose deaths in 2022 involved at least two substances, and 25
percent involved four or more, and Whereas, this rise in the number of drug overdose deaths is occurring despite the existence of extensive State and federally funded treatment services, and Whereas, these services are clearly insufficient in reaching all individuals experiencing a substance use disorder because, according to a 2020 social autopsy, the Department documented that 76 percent of the Vermonters who had died from an accidental drug overdose had no known history of accessing treatment, and Whereas, the severe problems associated with opioid-use disorder show no signs of abating, and the implementation of more effective solutions is an urgent imperative, now therefore be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives:
That the General Assembly declares the increasing number of drug overdose deaths in Vermont to be a public health emergency, and be it further Resolved: That the Secretary of State be directed to send a copy of this resolution to Governor Philip B.
Scott and to Commissioner of Health Dr. Mark Levine.
Whereas, the continuing and expanding use of opioid-related drugs in Vermont, regardless of their source,
has led to an increasingly severe crisis that has killed far too many Vermonters, and Whereas, the victims are not only the individuals who die but also their families and friends, creating a broader human tragedy, and Whereas, Department of Health (the Department) data reveal the severity of the situation, and Whereas, the number of Vermonters who have perished due to opioid-related drug overdoses grew from 37 in
2010 to 212 in the first 11 months of 2023 (excluding those deaths deemed to have been by suicide), and Whereas, the opioids causing these deaths are now more toxic than in prior years, as fentanyl (a synthetic opioid that is 50 times more potent than heroin) was involved in 94.8 percent of the opioid-related drug overdose deaths recorded in Vermont for the first 11 months of 2023, and Whereas, other opioid-related drugs contributing to overdose deaths in this time period included cocaine
(58.4 percent); heroin (3.7 percent); gabapentin (10.8 percent); methamphetamine (5.6 percent); and xylazine,
which the FDA has only approved for veterinary use, (32.07 percent), and Whereas, this rise in the number of opioid-related drug overdose deaths is occurring despite the existence of
extensive State and federally funded treatment services; and these services are clearly insufficient for reaching all individuals experiencing a substance use disorder, and Whereas, according to a 2020 social autopsy, the Department documented that 76 percent of the Vermonters who had died from an accidental drug overdose had no known history of accessing treatment, and Whereas, in the most recent social autopsy, the Department recorded that 41 percent of overdose victims died alone, and Whereas, the severe problems associated with opioid-use disorder in Vermont, which also exist nationally,
show no signs of abating, and the implementation of more effective solutions is an urgent State imperative, now therefore be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives:
That the General Assembly declares that the increasing number of opioid-related drug overdose deaths in
Vermont constitutes a public health emergency, and be it further Resolved: That the Secretary of State be directed to send a copy of this resolution to Governor Philip B.
Scott, to Commissioner of Health Dr. Mark Levine, to Chief Prevention Officer Monica Hutt, and to the Vermont Congressional Delegation.
____________________________ Attested to:
President of the Senate ____________________________ ____________________________
Speaker of the House John H. Bloomer, Jr.
Secretary of the Senate Date:________________________