The opioid epidemic is a serious social problem, one that is killing more Americans than “the entire Vietnam War and car crashes, gun violence and HIV/AIDS in one year” (Lopez 2017). Every day over 170 people die from an overdose in the U.S. Clearly, this issue must be dealt with now, but the question is how? In my opinion, this epidemic must be handled in two ways, we must prevent future addicts as well as help cure the current ones.
Many people assume the easiest way to end the opioid epidemic is to simply cut the supply of opioid and to prevent opioids from entering the U.S. However, there are many reasons why this option won’t work. First, the supply of heroin is too large. It is simply not possible to end the drug trade. Where there’s a will there's a way, thus drugs will always enter the U.S. Furthermore, doctors still need to prescribe opioids to people in pain, ending the prescription process is not reasonable. Thirdly, withdrawal symptoms are real and must be managed appropriately or death may result.
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This will help end the immense overprescribing problem. The CDC states that “in 2015, the number of opioids prescribed was enough for every American to be medicated around the clock for three weeks” (Lopez 2017). Restricting the flow of drugs is critical because the CDC also found that “people who are addicted to painkillers are 40 times more likely to be addicted to heroin” (Lopez 2017). Since heroin is easily accessible and cheaper it’s very easy for those who use opioids to become addicted. Hence, why doctors need to use preventative prescribing methods, in order to prevent the number of individuals who become addicted. However, doctors need tighter prescribing regulations because big pharma companies are paying doctors to overprescribe in order to profit. Hence, the corruption must be dealt with as