STAND

STAND. COM. REP. NO.980-02

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2002

RE: H.C.R. No. 91

H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Health and Education, to which was referred H.C.R. No. 91 entitled:

"HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING A STUDY ON THE USE OF DRUGS TO TREAT ATTENTION DEFICIT/HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER IN CHILDREN,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this concurrent resolution is to request the Legislative Reference Bureau (LRB) to:

(1) Gather information on the number of Hawaii school children being diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and the percentage of those children that are on treatment medication, such as Ritalin;

(2) Obtain information from other states to determine what action, if any, has been taken;

(3) Enlist the services of the Department of Health (DOH) and Department of Education (DOE) in compiling data; and

(4) Review legislative options and drafting appropriate legislation if the rate of diagnosis and prescription of medication for Hawaii school children is above the national norm.

The Christian Science Committee on Publication for Hawaii and a concerned citizen testified in support of this measure. DOH commented. DOE opposed this measure.

DOH stated that although they support the intent of this measure, a similar report has already been submitted to the Legislature in response to S.C.R. 92, S.D. 1, Regular Session of 2001. DOE responded similarly stating that current data is already available.

Your Committees find that there is growing concern that too many children are being diagnosed with ADHD, and ADHD treatment drugs, such as Ritalin are being overly prescribed. Although data for Hawaii children pertaining to ADHD may be available, your Committees believe that a proactive approach needs to be taken by providing options and alternatives to ADHD diagnosis and treatment.

Accordingly, your Committees have amended this concurrent resolution by:

(1) Removing the provision that LRB review legislative options only if the rate of diagnosis and prescription of medication exceeds the national norm;

(2) Requesting LRB to provide options and alternatives to ADHD diagnosis and treatment;

(3) Requesting LRB to recommend appropriate legislation, if necessary; and

(4) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for purposes of clarity and style.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Education that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of H.C.R. No. 91, as amended herein, and recommend that it be referred to the Committee on Legislative Management in the form attached hereto as H.C.R. No. 91, H.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health and Education,

____________________________ KEN ITO, Chair		____________________________ DENNIS A. ARAKAKI, Chair