Sen. Haste appointed to Oklahoma Commission on Opioid Abuse

OKLAHOMA CITY – Sen. John Haste, R-Broken Arrow, has been appointed to the Oklahoma Commission on Opioid Abuse by Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were 91,799 overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2020, a 30 percent increase from 2019. A report issued by the CDC in August 2022 said the number of fatal overdoses began accelerating in March 2020.

“The CDC data shows the opioid crisis worsened during the pandemic. There’s not a community in our state that hasn’t been touched by this epidemic, and addressing it is literally a matter of life and death,” Haste said.  “I am grateful for the opportunity to serve on this commission as we work together to identify what more we should do as a state to stem this crisis.”

The Oklahoma Commission on Opioid Abuse was formed in April 2017, bringing doctors, law enforcement, treatment and addiction specialists, local business leaders and members of the Legislature together to study the state’s epidemic and formulate a response.

Haste is vice chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, and served as co-chair on the Joint Committee on Pandemic Relief Funding’s Health and Human Services Working Group. He is also a member of the National Conference of State Legislature’s Health Innovations Task Force.

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For more information, contact:
Sen. John Haste at 405-521-5602 or email John.Haste@oksenate.gov.