opioid crisis discussion post

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Medicine

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Dec 6, 2023

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Ongoing Opioid Crisis The opioid crisis is a prominent healthcare concern that has garnered attention at the highest levels of government, including the presidency. The misuse of opioids poses numerous health hazards, thus justifying the need for presidential intervention. I do know a lot about politics, even when it has involved something as serious as this. I’ll be quite honest, it frustrates me, and it is tough to understand. I was also not raised in a home where we learned of politics, so I did have to do more research than usual based on the discussion. The opioid epidemic was not even the target of mass attention by government officials at one point in time during this very long epidemic. As the opioid crisis continued to get worse, the reputed risks of marijuana had been the primary focus of drug regulation for the Bush leadership (Gottschalk, 2023). Opioid Crisis Vs. Past Presidencies President Bush’s administration approached the opioid situation, and initially, the administration attempted to prevent the youth from engaging in drug use. The healthcare system is a complex and delicate organization, requiring leaders to make crucial decisions and prioritize the well-being of their populace. Subsequently, treatment options for individuals already utilizing the substance were broadened, and ultimately, the influx of imports into the US was regulated. Obama introduced Obamacare through the ACA (Affordable Care Act) to expand healthcare reform to fight the opioid epidemic. During his presidency, he also incorporated a drug abuse program that involved wasting substances, monitoring substances, cracking down on poly-pharmacy, and overprescribing these controlled medications (Epidemic: Responding to

America’s Prescription Drug Abuse Crisis, 2011). Trump tried to repeal the ACA while also promising to confront the crisis. While on his presidential campaign, Trump made numerous commitments to tackle the current situation, raising the already substantial focus on the problem (Jones et al., 2017). Currently, maintenance medications are being given that are synthetic opioids. I am presently a corrections nurse, and we have a MAT program. Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) offers a means for combating substance abuse among incarcerated people, a commonly challenging to-access population (Hyatt & Lobmaier, 2020). These medications treat narcotic dependency but can easily cause the same dependency problems that opioids do. In 2019, nearly 75% of adults in the United States who reported taking buprenorphine in the past year did not engage in its misuse and the individuals who did primarily written using opioids that were prescription-only without a valid prescription of their own (Han et al., 2021). Under Trump’s presidency, the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic Act was enhanced by allowing it to be more convenient for Telehealth, MAT care programs being accepted by more insurance and more providers being able to prescribe opioid maintenance medications. A Right, Not a Privilege As I stated earlier, I do not know much about politics. It is so complicated for me, and it’s hard for me to grasp at times. I understand the U.S. has been battling an opioid crisis for decades, continuously worsening. I wish we had universal healthcare. So many do not realize that addiction is a mental health issue, and a lot of people refuse to be educated on that the fact that it is. If I could, I would attempt to get universal healthcare set in stone. Since I doubt, we receive

that anytime soon, I do feel like we have a commerce dedicated to situations like this when death tolls rise. Regardless of your stance, people are dying alarmingly, mental health deterioration is genuine, and people genuinely need assistance. References: Epidemic: Responding to America’s Prescription Drug Abuse Crisis. (2011). Epidemic: Responding to America’s Prescription Drug Abuse Crisis, 11. https://doi.org/10.1037/e580312012-001 Gottschalk, M. (2023). The Opioid Crisis: The War on Drugs Is Over. Long Live the War on Drugs. Annual Review of Criminology, 6 , 363–398. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev- criminol-030421-040140 Han, B., Jones, C. M., Einstein, E. B., & Compton, W. M. (2021). Trends in and Characteristics of Buprenorphine Misuse Among Adults in the US. JAMA Network Open, 4 (10), e2129409. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.29409 Hyatt, J. M., & Lobmaier, P. P. (2020). Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) in criminal justice settings as a double-edged sword: balancing novel addiction treatments and voluntary participation. Health & Justice, 8 (1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40352-020-0106-9 Jones, D. K., Simmons, M., & Galea, S. (2017). Improved Health: A Bipartisan Opportunity to Expand the Scope of Health Reform. American Journal of Public Health, 107 (9), 1383– 1384. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2017.303970

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