House passes Smith’s legislation to fight the opioid epidemic

Three Rivers Publishing, October 10, 2018

Too many Missouri families have felt the heartache of the loss of a loved one or friend to opioid addiction. The epidemic has ravaged homes and small communities and left children without parents and parents without their children. There are many things we need to do from furthering tightening the flow of goods across our borders to continuing to give law enforcement at the borders and in our towns the resources they need to fight this outbreak of opioid abuse in the U.S. One area I have focused on is where most patients are first exposed to opioids and the setting where they are often left with unused medications, surgery. I recently authored and had President Trump sign into law the Perioperative Reduction of Opioids (PRO) Act which will reduce patients exposure to unnecessary opioids post surgery, look at alternative forms of rehabilitation, and give patients and information they need on how to safely dispose of leftover opioids when they are no longer needed. We have a long way to go in this fight, but I am hopeful my legislation can be one small step towards getting our county on the winning side of this battle.

CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT MY BILL TO HELP FIGHT BACK AGAINST OPIOID ABUSE