Overdose Inaction
Posted on March 28, 2024
By Tom Horvath, PhD How can we explain the widespread expressed concern about US overdose deaths, coupled with our rather ineffective response to them? US overdose deaths may be the highest in the world. I will limit the following discussion to opiates, but alcohol, meth and multiple substance use are also of concern. I suggest that harsh and inaccurate beliefs about substance use and substance users have led many of the parts of our “system” for addressing substance problems into actions that increase overdose deaths rather than reduce them. In the remainder of this blog, I provide some details to support that idea. Buprenorphine and methadone: The medications most helpful for opiates are buprenorphine and methadone. As it stands much less than half of the US individuals who cou...
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