Bipartisan Coalition of 52 Attorneys General Send USTelecom Letter Outlining Plan to Strengthen Illegal Robocall Enforcement

This letter marks approximately eight months since fifty-one state attorneys general and twelve leading voice service providers (“VSPs”) promulgated the Anti-Robocall Principles (“Principles”) in order to more effectively combat the unwanted and illegal robocalls inundating the American people. The collaboration reflected in the Principles is intended to halt the onslaught of such calls and to “aid the State Attorneys General in identifying and prosecuting illegal robocallers.” The state attorneys general and telecom industry participants also supported efforts by the U.S. Congress to enact the TRACED Act, which focuses on tracing illegal robocalls in addition to other sweeping anti-robocall measures.

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NAAG Requests Removal of Federal Barriers to Treat Opioid Use Disorder

Unfortunately, there are three significant barriers to treating opioid use disorder that we cannot change at the state level and that must be tackled at the federal level. We share these barriers below in the hope that we can work together to remove them and allow more providers to offer treatment for opioid use disorder and other substance use disorders.

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AGs Express Concern about Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force Draft Report

The Draft Report should be revised to clearly state that there is no completely safe opioid dose, and that higher doses are particularly – and predictably – risks.

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NAAG Supports Equal Coronavirus Relief Funding for the District of Columbia

We believe that the District should receive $1.25 billion for purposes of the relief package. The District has nearly 200 confirmed coronavirus cases, which outpaces nearly two dozen states and territories. Indeed, as a densely populated urban center, the District is uniquely vulnerable to the spread of the virus and is already experiencing significant economic loss due to the ongoing public health emergency.

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NAAG Urges FDA to Include AGs in Oversight of Cannabis-Derived Products

As the primary enforcers of our respective states’ consumer protection laws, we offer a unique perspective as to the new legalized market of certain cannabis and cannabis-derived compounds, including CBD products. We write to express our hope that the FDA continues to explore manufacturing, testing, and marketing best practices so that consumers are not at risk of misleading advertising or harm to their health from dangerous additives or undisclosed risks of use. Although products containing cannabis or cannabis-derived compounds may well offer real benefits to consumers, it is important that consumers have reliable risk and benefit information to make informed choices about initiating and continuing the use of these products. A crucial element of FDA regulation and oversight should be an on-going assessment of the potential risks or benefits of these products, particularly for specific populations such as pregnant women, adolescents and children, and the elderly. How these products interact with other dietary or pharmaceutical products should be included in this assessment. It is also important that companies not mislead consumers. Scientific and medical data from the FDA would assist in meaningful enforcement of advertising laws and regulations by the states.

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State AGs Support Amendment to Communications Decency Act

In 2013 and again in 2017, Attorneys General from virtually every state and territory wrote to inform Congress of a damaging misinterpretation and misapplication of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (CDA) that rendered state and local authorities unable to enforce criminal laws against companies that actively profited from the promotion and facilitation of sex trafficking and crimes against children. To be sure, we are grateful for all the work you have done to protect the vulnerable among us. To bootstrap your efforts, we renew our recommendation for a modest but necessary amendment to the CDA. We must enable our state and local authorities to protect our citizens, including the most vulnerable among us, and to take appropriate action against criminal actors.

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AGs Send Policy Guidelines to Streaming Industry to Combat Youth Tobacco Use

Given the recent significant rise in tobacco use by young people, particularly the use of e-cigarettes, preventing initiation and use of tobacco products is of critical importance to us and the public health community, and we sincerely hope it will be addressed by the streaming industry.

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