Arizona State Representative Quang Nguyen (R-Prescott) announced Thursday that his bill, HB 2194, to reinstate the Drug Overdose Fatality Review Team (DOFRT) had received Gov. Katie Hobbs’s signature.
“Prevention works and the data provided by the Review Team to help with that is essential to combating dangerous narcotics and overdoses,” said Nguyen (pictured above). “Entities such as MATForce in Yavapai County, prosecutors, and the State Legislature depend on information from the Review Team to identify and implement recommendations to prevent overdoses.”
✅FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE✅
State Representative @QuangNguyenAZ’s #HB2194 to Reinstate Drug Overdose Fatality Review Team is Signed into Law.
READ MORE 👉 https://t.co/UpXv1Ej17m@AZHouseGOP #AZLeg pic.twitter.com/ZUd1XyiwY0
— Arizona House Republicans (@AZHouseGOP) April 20, 2023
In 2017, the Arizona Legislature enacted the DOFRT to operate under the Arizona Department of Health Services (DHS). The team consisted of 21 members heading offices across the state, including the attorney general, the department of public safety, a tribal government representative, and some county sheriffs. Their goal was to create a drug overdose data collection system and use that data to help develop policies to prevent drug-related fatalities, educate the public regarding these incidents, and assist in creating local overdose review teams.
Additionally, the team may request an overdosed individual’s medical records but cannot take evidence that may interfere with a police investigation. All records taken in by the DOFRT are considered confidential and not subject to a subpoena unless they were already publicly available. However, the team was given an expiration date of January 2023.
In December, the team released a report detailing drug overdose deaths in 2020. The team found that 2,635 drug-related deaths occurred that year. The DOFRT gave several recommendations, including increasing access to mental health services for people suffering from substance use disorder (SUD), testing people in the criminal justice system for SUD, and providing more training on the use of naloxone. The team also requested the Arizona Legislature to re-establish the DOFRT, which is precisely what Nguyen’s bill accomplished.
With the passage of HB 2194, the team is reinstated until January 1st, 2029. The bill also contained an emergency clause, which became effective immediately upon signage. It passed through both the House and Senate without receiving a single nay vote.
“And it [the DOFRT] is working. It’s been reported that overdose deaths in Yavapai County last year decreased, despite increasing numbers at the statewide level. That’s a testament to the prevention and education efforts that have been aided by the valuable information provided through the Review Team,” said Nguyen.
MATForce is a drug education and prevention non-profit in Yavapai County that collaborates with the DOFRT. According to the organization’s latest annual report, between 2020 and 2022, drug-related deaths in the county have fallen by 18 percent, dropping from 83 to 68. Of the casualties in 2022, 41 of them involved fentanyl, and the majority were men between the age of 31 and 40. MATForce recommended providing naloxone kits and training to gas station employees and providing more education on the dangers of “huffing” or inhaling fumes of household items like paint or cleaning products.
According to DHS, there have been 189 opioid-related deaths so far in 2023.
While the state attempts to mitigate drug overdoses, criminal cartels continue trying to smuggle the dangerous substances behind these tragedies into the state. On Thursday, Nogales Port of Entry Director Michael Humphries shared that his agents confiscated 423,400 fentanyl pills hidden in the seats of a car. That same day, border patrol agents found another 440,200 pills in another vehicle. Earlier in April, agents found 829,000 fentanyl pills in another car. After the bust, Humphries said that in just the first six months of the fiscal year 2023, his port alone had seized more fentanyl pills than the last five fiscal years combined.
4/7: CBP officers at the Nogales POE seized approximately 829,200 fentanyl pills hidden in the doors, side panels and spare tire of a car. Nogales POE has seized more fentanyl pills in the first 6 months of this fiscal year than in the last 5 fiscal years combined. pic.twitter.com/9tTiSemXIU
— Port Director Michael W. Humphries (@CBPPortDirNOG) April 11, 2023
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Neil Jones is a reporter for The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Neil on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Quang Nguyen” by Arizona House Republicans. Background Photo “Drugs” by Port Director Michael W. Humphries.
