By Dr. Calvin Clements
Pennsylvania has an opioid addiction problem. Opioid addiction knows no boundaries as it affects all races, ages groups and genders. Half of the accidental deaths from opioids are the result of prescription drugs. In 2015, it was estimated that 2 million Americans had a prescription pain medication addiction. You very likely know a family member or friend who has or is dealing with opioid addiction. Sadly, you may also know someone who has died from an accidental overdose. Unfortunately, the opioid issue significantly increased during the pandemic dues to isolation and unavailability of in-person treatment.
Opioid addiction is a treatable, chronic medical disease involving interactions among brain circuits, genetics, the environment and the individual. People with addictions use substances and engage in behaviors that become compulsive and continue despite harmful consequences. The changes in the brain continue long after the drug has discontinued. Diagnosable drug and alcohol addictions or substance use disorders (SUDs), are considered disabilities under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the American with Disabilities Act(ADA), and Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act.
In January of 2018, Governor Tom Wolf signed the Pennsylvania’s Opioid Disaster Declaration. The declaration was renewed fifteen times in the years to follow. The bill allowed agencies to work together to reduce overdose deaths and help Pennsylvanians obtain and pursue treatment. The declaration is credited with both putting into place improved systems that helped Pennsylvanians and significantly reduced overdose deaths. Overdose deaths were reduced by twenty percent from 2017 to 2020.
Unfortunately, isolation and disruption caused by the pandemic has negated these gains resulting in an alarming increase in substance use disorder and overdose deaths. In a new trend, children and young teens are experimenting with vaping liquid fentanyl, an extremely potent and addictive opioid. The outcome can be fatal.
Unfortunately, another outcome of the pandemic was the constitutional amendments that limits the duration of the Governors disaster relief declarations to twenty-one days. On July 30, 2021, Wolf asked the legislature to extend the opioid declaration. They have refused. The legislature has stated we have adequate programs, but the death toll rises.
We must have a high-profile opioid interdiction program in Pennsylvania. We must continue to educate the public of the dangers of opioids. We must continue training first responders in resuscitation and make naloxone available. Failure to maintain a coordinated program invites unnecessary fatalities.
We must continue to educate the judicial system that alternatives like buprenorphine, methadone and suboxone are approved medical regimes to rehabilitate opioid addiction and are covered under ADA laws. They must stop denying addicts the use of these important rehabilitative drugs. It is imperative that we maintain vigilant supervision of the lengths and quantities of prescriptions for opioids drugs. The legislature MUST get out of the practice of addiction medicine. Make the opioid program permanent.
Opioid addiction, LOVE THE ADDICT, HATE THE DRUG!
Author: Amaury Abreu
