SUNBURY – The state’s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program has funding and will be starting soon. State Senator Gene Yaw (R-23, Loyalsock Township) was a guest on WKOK’s On The Mark program Monday and said the state is about to take a big step forward in the fight against opioid addiction.
Yaw explained the funding for prescription registry is to be available by August, “There’s going to be a period of adjustment. Statistically, 80% of the people who end up on heroin start by abusing prescription drugs right off the bat. So we have to address the prescription drug problem in Pennsylvania even nationwide, we have to.”
Yaw explained beating addiction is a life-long process, “Addiction is a disease. And I think that most of the medical professions have come to that conclusion. The example I use frequently is it’s like diabetes. You can’t send someone away for 30 days and say you’re fixed. It’s a life-long problem like diabetes and addiction is the same way. You’re going to deal with it for the rest of your life and we’re going to have to deal with it as a community.”
You can hear more from Senator Yaw from WKOK’s On The Mark program online at www.wkok.com. (Alex Reichenbach)
