Address the prescription drug abuse pandemic in America, and create a new National initiative to spearhead this problem.

On June 25, 2013 I lost my younger 21 year old brother, John William Gogarty. The death of John shook my family and a small Island in New York called, Staten Island. Prescription drugs have become a pandemic on this Island and around the Nation. According to the CDC "Drug overdose death rates in the United States have more than tripled since 1990 and have never been higher”. In 2008, more than 36,000 people died from drug overdoses, and most of these deaths were caused by prescription drugs. The CDC recommends 2 initiatives 1; Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs 2; Patient review and restriction programs. New York State assemblymen need to pass the "John Gogarty Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs" and the “John Gogarty Patient Review and Restriction Program".
We cannot wait for change