Question

Policy and Economic Issues of the opioid crisis in the US. Write 3-4 paragraphs and don't use everything from the internet except data. Thanks

Answer 1

The U.S. government has stepped up efforts in recent years to cut both foreign and domestic opioid supplies, limiting the number of prescriptions in the U.S. while providing counter-narcotics assistance to countries including Mexico and China. Meanwhile, by concentrating less on prosecuting opioid users and more on treating them, federal and state authorities have sought to curb demand. Other countries which have also spiked opioid use, such as Canada and Australia, are experimenting with different policies.

Opioids, a class of opium poppy-derived drugs, can be divided into two broad categories: legally manufactured medicines and illicit narcotics. Opioid drugs, including oxycodone, hydrocodone, and morphine, are commonly prescribed for the treatment of pain, while methadone is primarily used in treatment centers for addiction to reduce patient dependence on opioids. Opioids became popular among doctors in the 1990s for treating patients with surgery or cancer treatment, but in the last 15 years doctors have increasingly prescribed them for chronic conditions, such as back pain or joint pain, despite concerns about their safety and efficacy.

Opioid overdose deaths have risen sixfold since 1999. In 2017, the most recent year for which statistics was available, opioid overdoses killed more than forty-seven thousand people, or more than six times the number of U.S. military servicemen killed in Iraq and Afghanistan in the post-9/11 wars. The year's opioid death rate was leading to the United States' third consecutive annual drop in life expectancy.

Deaths associated with opioids rose in lockstep with the number of opioids prescribed. A surge in the use of illicit opioids in the United States has accompanied the increase in prescriptions, as many patients turn to heroin and other illegal drugs because they can't get enough of their prescribed drugs to keep up with what could be a emerging addiction

The opioid epidemic has devastating public health consequences, causing high rates of hepatitis C, HIV and other diseases, mostly due to shared syringes. Meanwhile, mothers may pass an opioid dependency on to their children if they use while pregnant. Neonatal abstinence syndrome incidences almost quadrupled from 2000 through 2012. The opioid crisis may also have contributed to an upswing in the number of foster care children.

The DEA cut production quotas for pharmaceutical manufacturers by at least 25 per cent that year for opioids categorized as schedule II medicines, or those generally approved for medicinal purposes but with a high risk of abuse, like oxycodone, fentanyl and morphine. Since then the department has made further cuts, in line with Trump's proposal to reduce the amount of prescriptions filled by one-third in three years. Previous federal anti-drug campaigns focused on incarceration for the purpose of deterring substance use and trade. This approach has been widely criticized for failing to keep people from cycling in and out of prison and for disproportionately targeting African Americans. Federal and state authorities in recent years have turned to prevention and care.