They have good staff you will be a good senator if not, then. [laughter] i will not carry the hearing for word because i think the point needs to be made has been made because you have made them clearly with certainty with an anchor that i share so wherever you come from go back safely. Thank you. This hearing is adjourned. [inaudible conversations] hello did you get inside . Guest he was born. His lot was to be born. His parents were there. For reasons that are almost as lindsay. Because his fathers brother after the korean war had fled to south korea and after the authorities heard about that his father many brothers and parents were all rounded up to taken to camp 14 in that is where he was born. Schaede never told him and he never asked and they did not have the relationship where they would talk. His parents, his mom and dad conceived because they were chosen for something called a reward and she was bred like a farm animal in the camp and raised like a farm animal and physically his mother gave birth to him but raised with the values and rules and was not close to his mother at all. He had to memorize the rules of the camp if you dont use this you will be shot immediately. The first rule, the most important is if you try to escape you will be tried immediately in a corollary but if you hear about one in dont report you will be shot immediately and this was his 10 commandments his guide growing up in the camp said tonight that is a portion of some of conversation of the book escape from camp 40 in the only person that is known to escape from a prison camp he has the floor remarks tonight at 7 00 p. M. Come to order or would like to welcome our distinguished witnesses that will be introduced shortly. Recently the media has chronicled a resurgence of heroin abuse and the United States and more being moved into the country according to use the 2012 National Survey, 666,000 americans reported using heroin during the previous year. That number has steadily grown during the past several years. Says this begs the question why are more people using heroin . This is the Senate Caucus on International Drug control but the reason to control its is to keep it out of the country to do those things which prevent the use to not to enable. But one answer according to the experts may be the countrys addiction and use of prescription pain medications and here is why. A report released in decades and individuals who use prescription pain relievers were 19 times more likely to use heroin inyn7rno the past yer than tiose who had not that is amazing to me. So four out of every five heroin users had abused prescription pain relievers in the past. Says those i cocci cavuto or hydrocodone affect the Central Nervous system in the same way as heroin. So the lesson is that rather than thinking of two separate editions we should realize we have a much larger epidemic that includes both. So that strategy to battleship have three parts to prevent drug abuse are treating addicts to reduce the number of overdoses but the first and most important strategy is to prevent drug abuse before it starves to educate community and use about the dangers now some already do this from the federal Drug Free Communities Program and in california that program has contributed to a 50 reduction of prescription and drug use among 11th graders between 2011 and 2013. And to recognize that all stakeholders share a responsibility that prescription vent open your aides are spent only through a legitimate medical purposes the state based Monitoring Program along with mandatory checks of electronic databases can help doctors and pharmacists identified drug abuse since requiring mandatory checks coming in new york has seen a 75 decrease with the doctor shopping and significant reductions of paid reliever prescriptions. So the Drug Takeback Programs can also help reduce a zero uaws because they get unused prescription paid medicine set of the medicine cabinets where too many young adults first obtain these drugs so add heroin entering from other states is also a risk the d. A. Signature program of 2012 determined 90 of wholesale heroin seizures are able to be traced from mexico or south america. D. A. Also reports the and nec the mexican based drug cartel experience the market east to produce and sell heroin that is more pure going from brown to white. Between 2008 and 2013 heroin seizures along the southwest border increased nearly fourfold from 559 kilograms up at 2,196. The second to key strategy in the fight is successful treatment which often includes medication assisted therapies using drugs like methadone. Unfortunately and 2012 2. 5 Million People in our country were addicted to these zero opioid its well over a 351,000 received the methadone to treat their addiction so the rest of not receiving treatment. So finally the third strategy is to reduce overdose death. The latest year for which data is available, its 2010 the cdc reported more than 19,500 and intentional 0p your aid Overdose Deaths. Now there are steps that can be taken drugs that will immediately reversed the overdose in 18 states have taken steps to approve access to these drugs. So we need a way to find them more readily available to be properly trained and individuals including First Responders. We have an interesting hearing but i do want 2. 0 to if you look over at those charts you can see the sales and the overdose death and treatment between 1999 and 2010 and with the treatment ignitions the red is death. I hope you can see they all go up in this country. So that is a good chart that really discussing is what we are about. Another good part is heroin abuse increases as access to prescription pain killers decreases. That is brand new for me and that is what the other chart shows so i would hope some of you with your testimony would remark on this now i would like to recognize that distinguished vice chairman. Thank you to senator mcconnell for his interest. And i do as well. Thank you for the opportunity to be here today to testify on heroin abuse than the devastating effects in too many communities end in particular in my home state. Think you for your willingness to focus on this growing threat to. I would like to share a story of a wonderful vibrant community i have the platte a pleasure to represent in the senate from Northern Kentucky from suburban cincinnati is the center of culture arts of American History that a home to the airport in the gateway to the bluegrass state from the north the area that we referred to as Northern Kentucky live in a time of great opportunity to live in a major metropolitan area they can take advantage of those amenities like the Botanical Gardens in the Kentucky Speedway or taking in a Cincinnati Reds came or the nfl game or the art museum and over 25,000 acres of parking and. Northern kentucky offers all of that but yet this Proud Community has settled with the terrible distinction to be at the very epicenter of heroin addiction of kentucky and the nation. Many believe the problem started because of prescription pain pill abuse kentucky has the third highestv,qpo Drug Overdose mortality rate in our country. On the streets these badenpowells are expensive paid bills are expensive compared to a bag of hair when it just 10 a bag. So given the progress we have made to fight the illegal sale of prescription narcotics it is no surprise we see the uptick as senator feinstein was pointing out understand the economics. Few months ago i discussed the relationship between prescription painkiller abuse with federal agencies responsible for curbing the threats and i will continue to work with them as we Work Together to fight the epidemic. I would like to highlight the true extent of heroin abuse in Northern Kentucky and doublea2 low credit the chamber of commerce for the data. The fact that these numbers come from the chamber of commerce and not Law Enforcement or Public Health agency demonstrates how pervasive the the threat to the community is. These of the facts and in 2012 there were 61 heroin Overdose Deaths in the three counties referred to wrest Northern Kentucky. In fact, those cases increased by more than 75 in 2012 while the number of parallel and overdose cases have already doubled the number of 2012. Rates of acute hepatitis er doubled the state wide rate than 24 times the National Rate. 24 times the National Rate. Public Health Officials tied to the high level of heroin use but what is more the Health Department has reported that for every one death there is one new case of hepatitis c that anchors a lifetime cost of 64,200,500. The smallest among us are not discouraged sadly newborn babies are born with drug withdrawal syndrome that is heartbreaking not only costly of human terms but fiscally as well in carrying an average cost of 14,257. Law enforcement is on the front lines of the battle to protect. According to the Northern Kentuckys Drug Strike Force those trafficking a rest have decreased in the three counties that i mentioned an expected to double again but to put into perspective the three counties of Northern Kentucky contains 60 percent of my eight states prosecutions even though homeland less than 10 percent of the population. Let me add it is fitting we hold this hearing during National Police week with thousands of Police Officers from around the country we owe them our profound things and gratitude for risking their lives and then in the Island Property crimes driven by the growing trend clearly those facts show Northern Kentucky as a serious problem in major problem for the entire region and while Northern Kentucky maybe ground zero in my state it spreads like the cancer across the bluegrass state where we some and lose close to 100 kentucky residents per month we only have 4 Million People in the state loses more lives lost in fatal car crashes in this march i held a 90 and listening session to hear from those closest to the problem of federal resources could best be devoted to fixing it and in boone county one of the three counties there are some great heroes such as professionals to save lives and Business Leaders who raise money for business and awareness in the prosecutors who take the drugs off the streets and the recovering addicts themselves to find the courage to live despite the addiction. Which is largely driven by the abuse of prescription painkillers. Second, while kentucky is making progress, with greater education and more aggressive prosecutions, and enhance deregulatory authority at the state level, we need a culmination of both treatment and incarceration to be part of the solution. Lastly the heroin trade is no respect for borders which is why multijurisdictional and multiagency Law Enforcement efforts such as in my state the appellation high intensity Drug Trafficking area are so crucial. In this area find the resources we must use these interagency partnerships to the best expense to maximize our return from federal dollars we spent to combat the epidemic. My friend executive director of appellation hidta never fails remind us Law Enforcement partners that theres no limit to what we can accomplish when no one cares who gets the credit. The very same credo must guide our efforts at the federal level. So and feinstein, senator grassley, let me return to the bench i painted other Northern Kentucky right to promised and it is set by heroin abuse. Thankfully the ending to the story has yet to be written. Thats what im here today to share with you the gravity of their one threat to my constituents and to pledge work with all the stakeholders to save lives in kentucky from the terrible growing threat. With efficient leveraging federal resources and authorities using best practices learned from both Law Enforcement and Corrections Agency as well as the medical and Public Health communities we will eliminate the shout of this terrible epidemic from a healthy and robust communities all across america, like Northern Kentucky. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, senator mcconnell. Senator grassley, you have a major statement and then senator klobuchar would also like to make an Opening Statement. I think since you described the situation very well im going to start out in the middle of my statement and refer to something that you and i learned about the existence of a database by doctors maintained by perdue pharmaceuticals. Perdue markets oxycontin. One of the most abused prescription opiates, the database allegedly contain information about doctors who engage in reckless prescribing practices. Your and my investors revealed that many state medical boards as well as the centers for medicare and Medicaid Services didnt know about this database. We encouraged these organizations, as well as the dea, to contact purdue about it. As a result, information is now in the hands of authorities who can take action against irresponsible doctors. The purpose of this hearing is to learn more about what else is being done to combat this epidemic, and what role congress can play. A multifaceted approach makes common sense. Prevention efforts, through which doctors and the public are educated about the dangerousness of opioids and all addictive drugs, should be part of the solution. That is precisely why the mixed signals the Obama Administration is sending to young people about marijuana use are so damaging. Young people, and all those looking to climb up the ladder of opportunity in america, dont need another pathway to addiction. But that is what the president has said by providing to failing to enforce federal laws and dismiss marijuana use as just another bad habit. Treatment for those who have become addicted is also a part of the solution, as well. A drug called naloxone has shown effectiveness in countering the effects of heroin overdoses. And finally, Law Enforcement will have a Critical Role to play. Of course, we cant arrest our way out of this crisis. But we can maintain the current Law Enforcement tools to go after those who are trafficking heroin into our nation and our communities. Unfortunately, the sentencing reform bill the obama now before congress does just the opposite. The proposed smarter sentencing act that recently passed out of the Judiciary Committee cuts the mandatory minimum sentences for those who manufacture, import, or distribute heroin in half. These are penalties for dealers, not users. In the midst of an epidemic, my opinion, this makes no sense. Federal prosecutors themselves wrote that the Current System of penalties is the cornerstone of their ability to infiltrate and dismantle largescale Drug Trafficking organizations and to take violent armed career criminals off the streets. I dont want to remove this cornerstone, least of all now. Thank the witnesses for being here and going to put my entire statement in the record. Please do, and thank you very much, senator grassley. Senator klobuchar. Thank you very much. For selected thank you, senator feinstein and also senator grassley, for holding this important hearing, for inviting me to participate. Just yesterday afternoon i was with president clinton at Johns Hopkins where the clinton help Matters Initiative held a very important for him on this very topic with the focus on Prescription Drug addiction and some discussion about heroin. I was on a panel with commissioner hamburg and the former representative Patrick Kennedy to follow president clintons speech, and he is really taking this issue on which i thought was a positive and he has a lot of energy as you know. I start with Prescription Drugs because when i look at the facts on heroin, the fact while the vast majority of Prescription Drug users do not start to use heroin, something which i some of them. In fact, four out of five heroin users today started with Prescription Drug. So i start with a demand issue with the Prescription Drugs and now we get to that. I say first of all we have to do everything we can to reduce the supply to this means to me the Drug Takeback Program and getting them out of the hands of kids when its the number two thing that theyre addicted to. Senator cornyn and i passe