CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: Combating opioid misuse starts with tackling problems at grass-roots level

Loading player...
Every year since 2017 the US department of health & human services has declared opioid misuse to be a nationwide emergency. Since January, when the agency made its latest declaration, the problem has worsened. From January to June abuse of synthetic and illegal opioids rose 13%. Fatal overdoses have already topped 2019’s record-setting figures.

What’s different about the increase so far in 2020, however, is that the causes are pretty clear: social isolation and high joblessness brought on by Covid-19. Now instead of focusing mainly on stopping the flow of drugs or improving addiction treatment, the US has gained a new perspective on prevention. And that doesn’t just mean loosening isolation rules, opening businesses, or boosting federal economic aid. Those measures will be needed for some time to stop the pandemic.

No, the broader lens now is on the many primary solutions that can forestall drug abuse. And it’s being helped along by 2020’s social justice movement, which is exposing once again the roots of poverty and despair that lie behind much of the drug problem. In August, the American College of Preventive Medicine took up arms for this cause. It issued a statement that said a “deep ethical imperative” exists to address all the “social determinants” of drug misuse, from race to education to crime.

Prevention programmes must expand far beyond popular approaches such as anti-drug education in schools and the campaign to reduce opioid prescriptions. Current trends towards opioid misuse favour a pharmacological approach rather than one that deals with the complex societal issues that drive the problem. The US must find better ways to strengthen families, end child abuse, provide affordable homes, train people for jobs and improve mental health services.

After many years of a national drug emergency — now made worse by the pandemic — a bright light has finally fallen on the need to find better ways to help people steer clear of drugs. Treatment can begin long before addiction starts, by bringing health, home, purpose and community to everyone. /Boston, September 10

Christian Science Monitor
13 Sep 2020 12PM English South Africa Business News · News

Other recent episodes

Toyota Motors SA CEO Andrew Kirby

Business Day Senior Motoring correspondent Phuti Mpyane chats to Toyota Motors SA CEO Andrew Kirby about the threats to exports, tax and Chinese vehicles in SA.
24 Oct 9AM 39 min

Ford injects R5bn into production of hybrid-electric bakkies

Business Day editor-in-chief Alexander Parker speaks to Ford Africa president Neale Hill about the company's decision to spend R5.2bn to turn its SA subsidiary into the only global manufacturer of plug-in, hybrid-electric Ranger bakkies.
8 Nov 2023 9AM 13 min

Digital innovation no longer up in the clouds

The Covid-19 pandemic is the ultimate catalyst for digital transformation and will greatly accelerate several trends already well under way before the pandemic. According to research by Vodafone, 71% of firms have made at least one new technology investment in direct response to the pandemic. This shows that businesses are…
13 Sep 2020 4PM 6 min

Another farm invasion in Zimbabwe despite promises

Harare — A government official on Friday invaded a farm owned by a white commercial landowner in Zimbabwe in yet another twist that highlights the policy inconsistencies in Zimbabwe’s controversial land reform programme. The farm invasion comes just a few weeks after the government said it will allow some white…
13 Sep 2020 2PM 2 min

LETTER: Put Cyril Ramaphosa’s reform plans to the vote

SA is in a situation: the citizens and the president may be on the same page, but much of the governing party is on a different page, holding back necessary reform as a result. The last time we were in this situation, the president was FW de Klerk and the…
13 Sep 2020 1PM 1 min