Opioid addiction in America is not new, but the epidemic of fatal opioid overdoses is unprecedented. The crisis has reached epidemic levels largely due to the indifference of lawmakers and the misinterpretation of the warning signs and symptoms of drug abuse and addiction.
In 1999, Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel gave his famous speech, “The Perils of Indifference” to warn of the effects that an attitude of indifference toward wars and genocide abroad has on the global community. He also used his own experience to speak of the hopelessness that an attitude of indifference fosters in persecuted individuals.
Wiesel’s speech is nearly two decades old and focuses largely on wars and genocide, yet his warning of the effects of indifference relate closely to a war we are fighting here at home today with the opioid crisis.
The epitome of lawmakers’ indifference came in 2016. After former President Barack Obama and Congress declared opioid addiction a national crisis, the Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act was passed with little dissent.
The act provided major protections for large pharmaceutical companies. First, it made it nearly impossible for the government to freeze suspicious drug shipments from large pharmaceutical companies. Second, it allowed those same large companies to avoid law enforcement by submitting a “corrective plan” if it acted with misconduct. Finally, the act made it more difficult to suspend a pharmaceutical company’s license if it is considered an imminent danger to the public by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The recreational use of opioids in urban America skyrocketed and reached epidemic levels in the 1960s, according to the Institute for Medicaid Innovation. Since then, America declared a war on drugs and imposed harsh mandatory minimums on drug abusers and traffickers. However, the epidemic continued to spread because none of these punishment-oriented measures addressed drug addiction on an individual level.
Awareness is a simple way to ease some of the battle an individual with a drug addiction faces. When friends and family members are aware of a problem, the chances of overcoming it rise astronomically. While a drug addict has to be willing to get help and want it, doing that alone is much scarier than with a support system.
Casual drug use has become pervasive in our favorite TV shows and song lyrics. It is not the one-time or occasional use of drugs that is the epidemic, but rather the formation of addiction.
Casual drug use can be found on any college campus, and drug addiction can be found on many. Drug addiction turns a person into a hollow shell, but it isn’t always easy to recognize. Speaking up and voicing concern can often be harder than recognizing drug addiction alone.
The University and others should provide more resources to students and parents about the signs and symptoms of drug addiction and positive, effective ways to intervene. There should also be more tools available to friends and family members of those exhibiting signs of drug addiction to intervene without escalating the problem or creating a rift.
Most people don’t recognize symptoms or side effects as drug-addiction related and even if they do, they don’t always know how to approach the issue. People don’t wake up and decide to become drug addicts, which is why recognizing when use becomes abuse and when abuse becomes addiction is so important.
The University should be at the forefront of starting a dialogue in our community on the slippery slope of opioid use and abuse. The LSU Collegiate Recovery Community is a great tool for students recovering from drug addiction. We should use this same concept to prevent addiction by creating a space for conversations about use and abuse of opioids and other highly addictive drugs. By hearing from struggling students we can create a space where identifying and reaching out to those struggling with drug abuse feel empowered by their peers in asking for help.
Breanna Smith is a 21-year-old mass communication senior from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.