Be aware of opioid crisis sweeping nation
Published 6:00 pm Monday, September 16, 2019
Both our national and state governments are taking extraordinary measures to bring public awareness to the opioid crisis that is costing the lives of some 130 Americans everyday, according to government statistics.
The crisis has reached such a level, that since the beginning of the 21st century, our nation has lost nearly as many American lives as were lost in all of World War II.
In his recent presidential proclamation on this topic, President Donald Trump noted, “My administration is taking aggressive action to address this nationwide public emergency. In 2018, our High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program disrupted or dismantled nearly 3,000 drug organizations. During that operation, the Department of Justice seized enough fentanyl to kill more than 100,000 Americans out of our communities.”
The president also noted the government is taking other actions to reduce the demand for drugs through education and awareness, and cutting off the flow of illicit drugs across our borders and into American communities.
Trump also signed the bipartisan H.R. 6 bill, the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention Act, that promotes opioid recovery and treatment for patients and communities.
In Louisiana, the Department of Health recently wrapped up a three-day Opioid Action Summit that brought together hundreds of health care providers and covered subject matter by experts and addiction treatment providers who are dedicated to addressing the opioid epidemic.
Gov. John Bel Edwards declared the week of the summit a “Call to Action Week,” urging residents across Louisiana to focus on utilizing previous actions taken to respond to the crisis, as well as getting access to evidence-based treatment.
In addition, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry is helping with a joint outreach between his office and the Louisiana Ambulance Alliance designed to combat opioid abuse in Louisiana.
The effort is funded at no expense to taxpayers through the Opioid Abuse Prevention Fund, which collects monies through pharmaceutical rebates requested by Emergency Medical Service providers across the state.
These and other campaigns by our national and state authorities, will hopefully rid our nation of the deadly scourge that is the opioid crisis.
