RS 40:2025.1: Legislative findings

The legislature hereby finds and declares the following:

(1) Substance use disorder and drug overdose are major health problems that affect the lives of many people, multiple services systems, and lead to profound consequences, including permanent injury and death.

(2) Overdoses caused by heroin, fentanyl, other opioids, stimulants, controlled substance analogs, novel psychoactive substances, and other legal and illegal drugs are a public health crisis that stress and strain the financial, public health, healthcare, and public safety resources in Louisiana.

(3) Overdose fatality reviews, which are designed to uncover the who, what, when, where, why, and how a fatal overdose occurs, allow jurisdictions to examine and understand the circumstances leading to a fatal drug overdose.

(4) Through a comprehensive and multidisciplinary review, overdose fatality review panels can better understand the individual and population factors and characteristics of potential overdose victims.