How did we get here?
Over the past 30 years or more, the United States has been wrestling with an ever-expanding affliction that has come to be known as the “Opioid Crisis”. While the epidemic has plateaued in the past few years, its growth has stalled at unacceptably high levels and it continues to be one of the most deadly and the most economically devastating epidemics that has ever swept the United States.
Opioids have been around in different forms for centuries. However, the latest forms of the drug, due to the success of today’s pharmaceutical industry, are much more potent and more readily available than they ever have been in the past. In addition, it is important to note that while opioids are at the heart of the crisis, opioids, when administered correctly can be a boon to the millions of people that suffer with a wide variety of painful conditions each year.
As described in his recent book, “American Overdose: The Opioid Tragedy in Three Acts”, Chris McGreal details how the recent crisis got its beginnings in rural parts of Kentucky and West Virginia. The coal mining towns that grew and prospered when “Coal was King” have in many cases fallen on hard times. These towns were often, at one time, “company towns” that depended upon the support and assistance of remote corporations to scratch out a living. However, when the demand for coal fell off, these towns became perfect incubators that for all the challenges that typically beset communities that have fallen on hard times. The stage was set for the abuse of drugs like opioids. All that was needed was a reliable source of drugs from pharmaceutical companies, softened governmental regulation, and enterprising criminals pursuing their own self-interest. Given these necessary ingredients, it only took a few short years for opioids to expand from the rural town to the big city and become the focus of law enforcement and public safety professionals.
As Federal, State, and local authorities have become more focused on the crisis, they have started using more sophisticated tools to support their investigations and interdiction activities. As the number of users increased and drugs became harder to find, users transition to lower cost illegal drugs, that are often a mixture of different opioids including very potent and dangerous ones like fentanyl. Many of these potent and illegal drugs are imported from Mexico and China and require more sophisticated approaches and information to suppress.
Early Response & Shift to Illegal Markets
Governments and the medical community have responded by:
Training doctors to reduce the number of prescriptions and the quantity of prescribed opioids,
Increasing the availability of naloxone (Narcan) to first responders and addicts in order to reduce the number of deaths from opioid overdoses, and
Building more rehab capacity.
Unfortunately, drug overdose and death rates have plateaued at historically high levels as addicts have transitioned to illegal opioids, often made with or laced with fentanyl.