00                       HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 33                                                                     
01 Relating to requesting that the United States Food and Drug Administration or the                                       
02 United States Congress remove OxyContin from the market.                                                                
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04       WHEREAS OxyContin is a controlled substance that contains oxycodone,                                            
05 specifically oxycodone HCL controlled release; and                                                                      
06       WHEREAS oxycodone is an opioid agonist with an addiction potential similar to that                              
07 of morphine; and                                                                                                        
08       WHEREAS oxycodone is regulated under Alaska law (AS 11.71.140(b)(1)(N)) as a                                    
09 Schedule IA controlled substance having "the highest degree of danger or probable danger to                             
10 a person or the public"; and                                                                                            
11       WHEREAS oxycodone is regulated under federal law as a Schedule II controlled                                    
12 substance, which provides the highest level of control possible for approved drug products;                             
13 and                                                                                                                     
14       WHEREAS oxycodone, like morphine, has a high potential for abuse; it is supplied in                             
15 a controlled-release dosage form and is intended to provide up to 12 hours of relief from                               
16 moderate to severe pain; and                                                                                            
01       WHEREAS the oxycodone tablet must be taken whole and only by mouth; and                                         
02       WHEREAS, when the oxycodone tablet is crushed and its contents are injected                                     
03 intravenously or snorted into the nostrils, the controlled release mechanism is defeated, and a                         
04 potentially lethal dose of oxycodone is released immediately; and                                                       
05       WHEREAS, since 2001, there have been numerous reports of OxyContin diversion                                    
06 from legitimate use and abuse across the United States, including Alaska; and                                           
07       WHEREAS some of these reports of diversion and abuse have resulted in serious                                   
08 consequences, including death; and                                                                                      
09       WHEREAS the United States Food and Drug Administration has reacted to these                                     
10 reports by increasing the warnings that are supplied with the drug and providing information                            
11 to physicians concerning the proper use of OxyContin; and                                                               
12       WHEREAS the diversion and abuse of OxyContin has not decreased, and deaths                                      
13 continue to result from OxyContin; and                                                                                  
14       WHEREAS the Alaska State Legislature believes that removal of oxycodone, and                                    
15 thereby OxyContin, from the market is in the public interest, regardless of whether that                                
16 removal is accomplished by the United States Food and Drug Administration or the United                                 
17 States Congress;                                                                                                        
18       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests that the                                 
19 United States Food and Drug Administration remove oxycodone, and thereby OxyContin,                                     
20 from the market; and be it                                                                                              
21       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests that                                   
22 the United States Congress remove oxycodone, and thereby OxyContin, from the market if                                  
23 the United States Food and Drug Administration does not.                                                                
24       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable George W. Bush, President                              
25 of the United States; the Honorable Mark B. McClellan, Commissioner of Food and Drugs,                                  
26 U.S. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; the                                    
27 Honorable Ted Stevens, President Pro Tempore of the U.S. Senate and member of the Alaska                                
28 delegation in Congress; the Honorable J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the U.S. House of                                   
29 Representatives; the Honorable Bill Frist, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable                            
30 Tom DeLay, Majority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives; the Honorable Thomas                                   
31 Daschle, Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader of                             
01 the U.S. House of Representatives; the governors of each of the other 49 states; and to the                             
02 Honorable Lisa Murkowski, U.S. Senator, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S.                                               
03 Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.