Stopping a Global Opioid Crisis – What Will It Take ?
Stopping a global opioid crisis was the topic of the World Affairs Council’s November 27, 2018, program. Having recently spoken at Ft. Irwin, the Army’s National Training Center, located in Ft. Irwin, CA, on the opioid epidemic in the U.S., my interest was piqued.
I’d titled my Ft. Irwin program, “The Unintended Addict: Key Information to Fight the Opioid Epidemic.” And I opened my presentation by asking, “Why the focus on opioids given alcohol and other drugs (both legal and illicit) also change brain health and functioning? And to answer that question, I used the following slide sequence:
I then moved on to the backstory of this epidemic in the U.S., sharing five key reasons opioid use is at a crisis level, today. In other words, what happened between 1980, when opioids were for the most part only used in hospital settings, under close monitoring by doctors, to treat the acute pain of injury or surgery, and today? Today, opioid overdoses are killing 131 Americans daily, almost 48,000/year, and opioid use disorders are affecting more than 2.3 million Americans. These numbers do not include the roughly 10+ million family member’s whose lives are forever changed by a loved one’s opioid overdose death or opioid use disorder.
Understanding information like that which I shared and which is shared in the World Affairs Council’s program can prepare us to better fight this epidemic, an epidemic that now has the world “on the cusp of a global opioid crisis.”
Stopping the Opioid Epidemic in the U.S. and Before It Goes Globally – What Will It Take ?
My interest in this World Affairs program was piqued when I heard the program introduction by Jane Wales, CEO of the World Affairs Council, which was summarized for the podcast here:
The overuse of legal painkillers and the rise of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid which is easy to produce and transport across borders, has created a global opioid crisis. What do governments need to do to curb supply and combat addiction? Keith Humphreys, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University, and German Lopez, senior correspondent at VOX, discuss the consequences of a global drug market flooded by opioids with World Affairs Co-Host Ray Suarez.
Lisa Frederiksen
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I am a recovering addict. I have been clean for over three years. I answer a lot addiction related questions on Quora and found I had a knack for writing that is now turning into a passion. I tell it like it is and pull no punches because I want others to find recovery.
My drug of choice was opiods and I injected an easy six figures up my arm during my 15 year battle. When opiates became harder to procure following the crackdown on ‘pill mills’ I started to use meth in an effort to avoid the withdrawals. It wasn’t long before Heroin made its apprearance.
The result of that was that I now had a bigger problem because I was mixing them. In 2014 I came down with Osteomylitis thanks to the needle and stupidity.
It was while in the hospital I overdosed from a speedball and coded. Luckily, I was under medical care and revived. There was no light to go to and for some reason that really bothered me. It seemed that for me death would be final, as in no heaven or the other side.
It affected me so profoundly that I finally sought the help I needed. Getting sober was the hardest thing I have ever done and the agony I endured during withdrawals is not something I can ever forget. It’s been as strong a motivator as my new found love of life to continue on my path of recovery. Man, I was a straight junkie and if I can get clean then anyone can.
For me being sober is a whole new high. The best kind.
I don’t know if this epidemic can be stopped. The War on Drugs was doomed from the start.
The rise of meth is adding an even more deadly component to the mix and I am afraid drug related deaths will rise to epic levels. Meth causes so many health issues. It is nothing but straight poison. Speedballing with meth and Heroin is the new in thing. If they only knew.
This is a horrible new development and the substances are everywhere to be found. I used to work shutdowns and Iv’e traveled the United States. I never had a problem finding my fixes. It is nationwide now. Meth is the new pot. It is just unbelievable how readily available drugs are.
I am so thankful I woke up to reality. I still suffer from health issues that were my addictions parting gift. I feel it is my duty to try and give back to fellow addicts what so wonderful people did for me while I was learning to be sober again.
I am an addict and I have learned to own it. I wake up every day and decide that today I won’t use. It’s become easier to make that choice and I wouldn’t have it any other way. But I am still and always will be, an addict.
It isn’t the answer to stopping the epidemic but it’s a start. I try educate any that will listen.
Wow! Thank you so much, Michael, for sharing your story, and CONGRATULATIONS on your sobriety! When people share their stories, it can help at least one other person believe that people really can recover and thereby seek their own path to sobriety. If you’d like to write a post as a guest author on my blog, please send me an email at lisaf@breakingthecycles.com. I’d love to share it. Take care and thanks, again, for sharing. Lisa