Opioid Crisis in U.S.

“In 2016, about 64,000 drug overdose deaths took place in the U.S, the highest total recorded, more than 60 percent of those deaths involved opioids.”(Opioid Epidemic, pg 3) Opioids are taking over people's lives and the government needs to control this crisis. Although opponents say cracking down on opioids will cause difficulties for patients with actual problems. The government should take more aggressive measures to address the opioid crisis because people are dying, abuse, and crimes, and the government needs to educate the public and doctors.

First, people are dying due to opioid overdose. An average of 115 Americans dies every day from an opioid overdose. Not only are people overdosing, but they are also consuming opioids and do not know what is in the opioids. Lisa Manning had to witness that situation, In May 2017, Dustin the son of Lisa, snorted meth. Dustin did not know that the meth he snorted contained fentanyl equivalent to three grains of salt, and it killed him in 20 seconds. Fentanyl can appear in any drugs such as tablets, pills, and gel capsules. Not only are teens and adults dying from opioids, but newborns are also suffering from the consequences. Women that consume opioids when pregnant makes the babies' chance of having problems very high. “We see kids--little, itty-bitty kids that are found in the backs of cars where parents overdose in the front seat.”(Stoffers, 3) Opioids are killing people every day and it needs to change.

Next, there is an extraordinary amount of abuse and crime with opioids. Illegal drugs are entering the United States and President Trump stressed that there needs to be a stop to the illegal drugs. “An astonishing 90% of the opioids in America comes from south of the border- where we will be building a wall- which will greatly help in this problem.”- President Trump (Merica, 6) President Trump stated that by Americans buying the illegal drugs will continue the crisis. “Every person who buys illicit drugs here in America should know that they are risking their futures, their families and even their lives,” said by President Trump (Merica, 6) People are taking the illegal opioids and are abusing them. People are also taking the prescriptions their doctors gave them and are abusing the amounts that were given. People are abusing opioids and using opioids are illegal which is causing crime.

Lastly, many people do not know about the opioid crisis and the government needs to educate the doctors and the public. Many people now are going to their doctors to get prescribed opioids. Federal law requires pharmaceutical distributors to inform the U.S Drug Enforcement Administration when pharmacies order suspiciously high amounts of opioids. ("Opioid Epidemic”, 3) Some doctors continue to give opioids to their patients without making sure the patient is not overusing the opioids. “Pill mills” are health centers where doctors write flurries of pain medicine prescriptions with little regard to whether the patient actually is in need of them (Opioid Epidemic,3). We need to be able to trust our doctors and make sure they help us and not put people's lives in danger. “All medical professional organizations should back mandated education about safe opioid treatment as a prerequisite for licensure and prescribe” (Opioid Epidemic, 4 ). There are new guidelines that doctors are urged to choose pain relief treatments instead of opioids. There are many cases where doctors have received consequences after patients overdosed. “After three patients fatally overdosed on painkillers, a California court in 2016 sentenced a physician to 30 years in prison for second-degree murder. Company officials had received reports that the pills were being crushed and snorted, stolen from pharmacies, and that some doctors were being charged with selling prescriptions. We are supposed to go to doctors to get help but some doctors are not being trusted with medications and some need to be educated on what the consequences could be with opioids.

In conclusion, if the government doesn’t put a stop to the opioid crisis the deaths will increase, abuse and crimes will also increase, and doctors won’t get educated correctly on the opioid crisis. If you want to learn more about the opioid crisis go to https://www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/opioids/opioid-overdose-crisis. If the government addresses this issue the problems may be able to be solved.

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