2 minute read
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
criminal approach rather than a health-based one. In 2016, the federal budget for the “drug war” totaled $26 billion, of which 60 percent was spent on policing efforts, and less than 40 percent on treatment and rehabilitation efforts.17
CHALLENGING THE U.S. PERSPECTIVE
If the United States changed from viewing addicts as criminals and shifted to treating them as sick, large steps could be made in the right direction.
Portugal used to be considered Europe’s “heroin capital.” 18 In 1999, approximately one in every 100 people was addicted to hard drugs, devastating the country. But today, they have one of the most effective addiction treatment systems in the world. People caught with personal amounts of hard drugs are forced to attend a counseling session rather than pay a fine or go to jail, and lowcost public rehabilitation centers combined with easily accessible methadone trucks make getting quality treatment easy. Portugal spends 90 percent of its federal drug budget on healthcare and therapy efforts, and less than ten percent goes into policing.
A combination of Portugal’s centralized government approach to treating addicts with the highly effective potential treatment discussed in this paper could effectively address the opioid epidemic in the United States. Although political reform is slow in the United States, a novel treatment combining a vitamin D derivative and ultraviolet light exposure may prove an effective solution. If developed and distributed in a way that prioritizes those suffering from addiction, the treatment could save tens of thousands of lives and hopefully prevent the destruction of hundreds of thousands of families and communities each year.
1 “Drug Overdose Deaths in the U.S. Top 100,000 Annually.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 17 Nov. 2021, www. cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/nchs_press_releases/2021/20211117. htm.
2 “Heroin Drug Facts.” National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 22 Mar. 2022, nida. nih.gov/publications/drugfacts/heroin.
3 Whelan, Paul J, and Remski, Kimberly. “Buprenorphine vs Methadone Treatment: A Review of Evidence in Both Developed and Developing Worlds.” Journal of Neurosciences in Rural Practice, vol. 03, no. 01, 2012: 45–50, doi.org/10.4103/09763147.91934.
4 Kuehn, Bridget M. “Methadone Overdose Deaths Rise with Increased Prescribing for Pain.” JAMA, JAMA Network, 22 Aug. 2012, jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/1352108.
5 “How Do Medications to Treat Opioid Use Disorder Work?” National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 13 Apr. 2021, nida.nih.gov/publications/ research-reports/medications-to-treat-opioid-addiction/howdo-medications-to-treat-opioid-addiction-work.
6 Mann, Brian. “As Addiction Deaths Surge, Profit-Driven Rehab Industry Faces 'Severe Ethical Crisis'.” NPR, 15 Feb. 2021, www. npr.org/2021/02/15/963700736/as-addiction-deaths-surgeprofit-driven-rehab-industry-faces-severe-ethical-cris.
7 Beetham, Tamara, et al. “Admission Practices and Cost of Care for Opioid Use Disorder at Residential Addiction Treatment Programs in the US.” Health Affairs, vol. 40, no. 2, 2021, 317–325, doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2020.00378.
8 Kemény, Lajos V., et al. “Vitamin D Deficiency Exacerbates UV/ Endorphin and Opioid Addiction.” Science Advances, vol. 7, no. 24, 2021, doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abe4577.
9 Ibid.
10 Lite, Jordan. “Vitamin D Deficiency Soars in the U.S., Study Says.” Scientific American, 23 Mar. 2009, www. scientificamerican.com/article/vitamin-d-deficiency-unitedstates.
11 Cunningham, Julie. “Vitamin D Deficiency May Increase Risk for Addiction to Opioids and Ultraviolet Rays.” Massachusetts General Hospital, 11 June 2021, www.massgeneral.org/news/ press-release/Vitamin-D-deficiency-may-increase-risk-for-
LARS ZEANA-SCHLIEP
addiction-to-opioids-and-ultraviolet-rays.
12 “Confirmed Plan of Reorganization Facilitates Creation of New Company – ‘Knoa Pharma.’” Purdue Pharma, 3 Sept. 2021, www.purduepharma.com/news/2021/09/03/confirmed-planof-reorganization-facilitates-creation-of-new-company-knoapharma.
13 Oakley, Amanda, Rademaker, Marius. “Isotretinoin.” Isotretinoin | DermNet NZ, Feb. 2016, dermnetnz.org/topics/isotretinoin.
14 Zeana, Cosmina. Personal Interview, 29 Apr. 2022.
15 Ibid.
16 Ibid.
17 “The Federal Drug Control Budget - Drug Policy Alliance.” Drugpolicy Alliance, Feb. 2015, drugpolicy.org/sites/default/ files/DPA_Fact_sheet_Drug_War_Budget_Feb2015.pdf.
18 Clay, Rebecca A. “How Portugal Is Solving Its Opioid Problem.” Monitor on Psychology, American Psychological Association, Oct. 2018, www.apa.org/monitor/2018/10/portugal-opioid.
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