A new study published in JAMA Network forecasts nearly 500,000 opioid overdose deaths over the next decade if the current circumstances regarding substance use prevention and treatment do not change. However, if interventions such as reducing opioid prescriptions, expanding treatment, and increasing the availability of overdose reversal medications are implemented, an estimated one-third reduction in fatalities is possible. The study, aimed at understanding how the crisis might evolve, analyzed multiple factors that have caused injuries and deaths in the past and the impact of interventions so far.
Meanwhile, an opinion piece published by NBC News praises the measure passed in Oregon this month to decriminalize small amounts of illicit drugs such as heroin and cocaine, and at the same time expand treatment opportunities. The writer says that drugs are rampant in jails and incarceration can therefore only make addiction worse due to the lack of treatment in prisons. Oregon’s effort to overhaul this dynamic is a worthwhile project to pursue, and should be closely followed to assess outcomes and understand how such a system might work.
And finally, e-cigarette use by young people is still at epidemic levels, despite a self-reported decline in vaping in 2019 by high school and middle school students. In 2016, ads for e-cigarettes reached nearly four in five of these students, and there’s evidence that kids who vape are four to five times more likely to experiment with cigarettes for the first time. They are also susceptible to serious lung injuries that have caused hospitalizations and death. As in decades past, the article concludes, the nation’s regulatory agencies have been slow to recognize this fast-growing threat to the health and development of young Americans.