Utah Legislation

The Utah State Legislature appropriated funding to the Utah Department of Health (UDOH) in 2007 to reduce deaths and other harm from prescription opioids. Part of the funding was used to create the Use Only As Directed program, which has made strides in educating the public about the risk of prescription drugs. However, one of the biggest obstacles we face in eliminating overdose-related deaths is the lack of reliable research on the subject. Funding is needed to expand the research done by the UDOH to fully understand how prescription drugs relate to overdose deaths. The Utah-specific data from that research would be vital to craft a solution for Utah’s overdose-related death problem.