US won’t declare opioid emergency, Price says - CNN
►http://edition.cnn.com/2017/08/08/health/hhs-opioid-emergency-declaration/index.html
Since 1999, the number of American overdose deaths involving opioids has quadrupled, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. From 2000 to 2015, more than 500,000 people died of drug overdoses, and opioids account for the majority of those. The commission said 142 Americans die from drug overdoses every day — a toll “equal to September 11th every three weeks.”
In addition to the emergency declaration, the commission recommended rapidly increasing treatment capacity for those who need substance abuse help; establishing and funding better access to medication-assisted treatment programs; and equipping all law enforcement with naloxone, the opioid antidote used by first responders to save lives.
The crucial thing an emergency declaration does, he said, is mobilize resources and bring much-needed attention to the problem, especially in getting politicians, leaders and the public on the same page.
“Typically, humans don’t get motivated until there’s actually a problem,” Reingold said. “In this case, this is a problem that has been festering for some time — and now we’re finally paying attention to it.”
