Opioids: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

The opioid crisis in America has been a devastating public health emergency that has affected millions of people across the country. Opioids are a class of drugs that include prescription painkillers like oxycodone, hydrocodone, and fentanyl, as well as illicit drugs like heroin.

The crisis began in the late 1990s when pharmaceutical companies began promoting the use of opioids for the treatment of chronic pain. At the time, the medical community believed that opioids were safe and effective for long-term pain management, and many patients have been prescribed these drugs without fully understanding the risks of addiction and overdose.

Over time, it became clear that the widespread use of opioids had led to a public health crisis. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 500,000 people died from opioid overdoses between 1999 and 2019. In 2019 alone, there were over 49,000 opioid overdose deaths.

The crisis has affected people from all walks of life, but certain populations have been hit particularly hard. For example, people living in rural areas have been disproportionately affected by the crisis, as have people who are low-income or uninsured. Additionally, people who have a history of substance abuse or mental health disorders are more likely to become addicted to opioids.

To address the crisis, policymakers and public health officials have taken a variety of steps. One approach has been to increase access to addiction treatment, including medication-assisted treatment (MAT) with drugs like methadone and buprenorphine. MAT has been shown to be effective in reducing opioid use and preventing overdose deaths.

Another approach has been to increase access to naloxone, a drug that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. Naloxone is available without a prescription in many states and has been credited with saving thousands of lives.

Policymakers have also sought to address the root causes of the crisis by implementing stricter regulations on the prescribing of opioids. This has included limiting the number of pills that can be prescribed at one time and requiring doctors to use prescription drug monitoring programs to track patients’ opioid use.

Despite these efforts, the opioid crisis continues to be a major public health challenge. The COVID-19 pandemic has only made matters worse, with many people experiencing increased stress and anxiety that can lead to increased drug use. As the country continues to grapple with the crisis, it is clear that a comprehensive, multi-faceted approach will be needed to address the complex issues at the heart of the problem.