Common Sense Reform for the “Opiate Crisis” via

Health
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  1. Repeal the controlled substance act (CSA)
  2. Decriminalize all drugs
  3. Mandate medication assisted treatment for true Opiod use disorder(never for opioid dependence )
  4. Release all nonviolent drug possession “offenders” and all HCP convicted of “drug charges” from all federal and state prisons

The CSA was enacted in the early 1970’s and became weaponized against HCP by Y2K By 2012, deaths from illicit drugs surpassed deaths from prescription medications as the demand for illicit drugs skyrocketed which led the USDOJ/DEA to further restrict the safe supply of opioids by reducing production and by incarcerating physicians and pharmacists who adhered to their inherent value in treating acute and chronic painful conditions These actions by the USDOJ/DEA, further escalated the demand and market for illicit drugs As the safe supply has dwindled, the impending prohibition has opened the door for increasingly lethal drugs to flood our streets. It’s not an overdose when a single pill kills, it’s a drug poisoning

A few facts about opioids;

  1. They have been considered safe and effective for the alleviation of post traumatic and other chronically painful conditions for >300 years
  2. The addiction rate globally is 1.2-1.6%
  3. The addiction rate after exposure from planned surgical procedures or traumatic injury is 0.6%
  4. The addiction rate for people taking stable doses of any pure agonist is 0.02%
  5. Hydrocodone has a unique pathway of metabolism that is not known to be altered by any medication or other substance ( no evidence that muscle relaxers or anxiolytics cause any change in metabolic pathways of opioids)
  6. Patients on opiates are likely to develop worse pain if their dose is reduced or the opioid is withdrawn (post-opiate hyperalgesia)

While closing the border and reducing the illicit drug supply is important, it is far less effective than creating a safe supply and will be totally ineffective unless safe supply is also enacted

A review of the policies enacted in Portugal should be completed to help form new policies here. Portugal had the highest drug overdose rate in the world prior to Y2K, more than double the drug death rate in the US, and successfully reduced it to well under 1% of the current US numbers in less than 5 years. They reduced their overdose rate, prison population, and HIV cases with radical drug policies:

  1. They stopped treating drug use as a crime and addressed it as the health concern that it should be. People with personal use amounts of drugs were referred to health centers to discuss responsible use or referred for MAT People who chose to use injectable drugs were sent to injection sites which were supplied with sterile needles to be disposed of after single use This reduced new HIV cases by 90+%. Non violent drug users were released from prisons and put in a stable work environment
  2. They never sanctioned or incarcerated HCP for prescribing opiates ( unique to the USA)
  3. Low doses of opiates, muscle relaxants, and anxiolytics were sold OTC, only higher doses were prescribed Heroin, marijuana, and cocaine were also sold in stores
  4. All drugs were decriminalized when possession was for personal use
  5. People with >7 day supply were still subject to criminal charges

The definition of insanity is repeating the same behavior and expecting a different result The war on drugs became a government concern in the 1970’s and they have failed miserably so it is now time for a new path by repealing the CSA and decriminalizing all drugs