Ninety-one Americans die each day from an opioid overdose. From 2000 to 2015, more than half a million people lost their battles with drug addiction.
It is estimated that in 2016, more than 59,000 Americans (almost 1,000 from Colorado) died from drug overdoses, the largest annual jump in such deaths ever recorded in the United States. One reason for this surge in overdose fatalities is the spread of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is cheap and dangerous. To put this in perspective, about as many Americans are expected to die this year of drug overdoses as died in the Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined.
Colorado needs leaders who will prioritize and take on this crisis with solutions. As a criminal prosecutor for more than 20 years, I believe that we must take direct action to curb this trend. On my recent visit to the Alamosa County Jail, overcrowded with people suffering from addiction and little chance at getting much-needed resources, I saw addiction-related tragedies firsthand. Inmates were piled on top of one another, with some forced to sleep on the floor.
We need a concrete and aggressive plan that will include preventing the overprescription and abuse of opioids, enhancing law enforcement resources for responding to overdoses, and improving treatment options for addiction.
We must attack addiction to prescription opioid painkillers (a major risk factor for heroin addiction). In 2016, doctors wrote more than 236 million prescriptions for opioids across the United States – that is about one prescription for every American adult. Our Attorney General must work with policymakers to limit pill quantity, lengthy time periods of prescriptions and implement the use of real-time reporting and monitoring of prescription drug-distribution through the use of electronic integrated health records. Other states have taken this important step. Colorado can and should as well. Our state should explore e-prescriptions – a system successfully used to prevent addicts from forging written prescriptions.
The overprescription problem cannot, however, be solved in the Legislature alone. Our leaders must engage health care providers to develop ways to improve prescribing practices, identify and combat high-risk prescribing and monitor abuse. We must work together to treat people and offer alternative health care services for those who want to avoid the use of opioids. We must encourage and compel drug companies and health care providers to help us in this effort. Similarly, insurance companies must provide easy access to less-addictive medications and, also, coverage for addiction treatment.
This issue cannot be solved by one group, it must be a united and organized effort to address all levels of treatment, prevention and abuse. The effort should include needle-exchange programs, Medication-Assisted Treatment and safe disposal programs, which when implemented in a smart and effective way, can make real impacts in this crisis. Law enforcement and medical personnel must have proper access to, and training on, the proper administration of the life-saving drug naloxone, which allows first responders to reduce the likelihood of a fatality from an overdose. Colorado needs state leadership who will bring policymakers together from across our state to implement these effective means in the best way for our local governments.
The loss of life and collateral consequences are staggering. Drug abuse doesn’t just affect the addict; it takes a toll on families, communities and our state. Drug use should not be looked at in isolation. Drug addiction drives property crime rates because addicts are looking to feed their addiction by any means necessary. People commit car trespasses, burglaries and thefts for money to buy drugs, and all too often these individuals choose to get behind the wheel while impaired – leading to the deaths of many Coloradans. Hospitalizing, arresting and jailing addicts cost Coloradans staggering amounts of time and money each year.
Addiction is a preventable illness, one that we can end through proactive measures. Our families need us to act now. To individuals suffering currently, know that you are not alone, and I – along with many others across the state – will work hard to end this debilitating disease. One overdose death is one too many.
Michael Dougherty has been a criminal prosecutor for more than 20 years and is a Democratic candidate for Colorado Attorney General. Reach him at info@michaelforag.com.
