Different Takes: Opioid Epidemic Is Not A Problem We Can Kill Our Way Out Of; Find Safe Alternatives For Pain
Opinion pages focus on healthy policies regarding the opioid epidemic.
The Washington Post:
The Opioid Crisis Is A Government Failure Of Epic Proportions
President Trump deserves credit for ringing the alarm bell on the crisis of opioid abuse. In 2016, more Americans died of opioid overdoses than were killed in the Vietnam War. This appalling statistic is a key factor in the recent, shocking decline in U.S. life expectancy. I would quibble, however, with Trump’s decision to launch a global trade war on the same day he convened a White House summit to highlight the opioid emergency. That’s not what folks normally mean by “highlight.” Where is the laser focus and message discipline that allowed a younger Trump to leverage his 1990 garden-variety divorce into a New York tabloid sensation? These days, we’re lucky if he can stay on topic for an hour. (David Von Drehle, 3/2)
Detroit Free Press:
To Fight Opioids, Find Nonaddictive Painkillers
The numbers are shocking. It’s estimated that more than 1,000 men and women are treated in emergency rooms daily for misusing prescription painkillers. As a nation, we’re spending more than $500 billion annually in health and social costs to combat this epidemic. While it’s true there is no magic-wand to address this issue, we must recognize that if we’re going to achieve an addiction free nation, it will depend on smart science and a regulatory environment that promotes pain management alternatives. (Fred Upton and Debbie Dingell, 3/2)
Columbus Dispatch:
Workplace Drug Use Demands Attention
Drugs and workplaces don’t mix. That’s common sense, but now employers have more reasons to take a hard line against employee drug use. The workplace impact of Ohio’s opioid epidemic is starting to be quantified, and the looming availability of legalized marijuana use for medical purposes is forcing Ohio employers’ hands on whether they will tolerate employees’ medical use of the drug regardless of its change in legal status. Getting a handle on just how many employees are impaired by opioid addictions has been elusive. Now a new report examining opioid use in the construction industry has called out Ohio as far worse than six neighboring Midwest states studied. Of 1,000 construction workers dying of opioid overdoses in 2015, 380 were in Ohio — more than twice the totals in Illinois and Michigan, the next highest states. (3/2)
St. Louis Post Dispatch:
Pregnant Drug Addicts Need Treatment, Not Punishment
The latest assault on women in Missouri is an effort to criminalize drug addiction in pregnant women. Rep. Jered Taylor, R-Nixa, is sponsoring House Bill 1875, which would make it a felony for a pregnant woman to take narcotics or controlled substances without a prescription. The threat of jail is not the motivation women struggling with drug dependency need. Groups that might otherwise be on Taylor’s side, such as the anti-abortion group Campaign Life Missouri, have raised alarms about this misguided measure. (3/4)
The Hill:
New Studies Show That Legal Cannabis Access Reduces Opioid Abuse
Scientific data is growing nearly by the day in support of the notion that legalized cannabis can mitigate opioid use and abuse. For instance, among states where medical cannabis access is permitted, patients routinely lessen their opioid intake. According to data published this week by the Minnesota Department of Health, among those patients known to be taking opiate painkillers upon their enrollment into the program, 63 percent “were able to reduce or eliminate opioid usage after six months.” (Paul Armentano, 3/4)
