Fight The Urge To Criminalize Opioid Addiction Behaviors

Editor’s note: This post is part of a Health Affairs Blog Symposium on Health Law stemming from 4th Annual Health Law Year in P/Review conference hosted by the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School. Holly Fernandez Lynch wrote an introductory post in January 2016 and you can access a full list of symposium pieces here or by clicking on the “The Health Law Year in P/Review” tag at the bottom of any symposium post. You can also watch the video of the presentation on which this post is based. It’s well known that the U.S. is in the midst of a prescription opioid overdose and abuse epidemic. Adverse outcomes from prescription opioid abuse have dramatically escalated over the past decade and a half, with fatal prescription opioid overdoses roughly quadrupling and emergency department visits involving prescription drugs (mostly opioids) more than doubling. Outrageous statistics—such as that opioids were involved in almost 29,000 drug overdose deaths in 2014, or that 46 people die from a prescription opioid overdose every day—have less “shock” value now than they did several years ago. Moreover, the opioid crisis has become personal: many (including presidential candidates) have experienced a close friend or family member struggle with addiction. What is evolving is our perception of opioid addiction as a disease, our understanding of the etiology (or causes) of that disease, and our recognition that...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Drugs and Medical Technology Public Health Quality criminal justice drug treatment needle exchange programs Opioid Addiction prescription drug addiction The Health Law Year in P/Review Source Type: blogs