Regulatory, Legislative,
References:
Barlas, S. (2017, September). U.S. and States Ramp Up Response to Opioid Crisis: Regulatory, Legislative, and Legal Tools Brought to Bear. P & T: a peer-reviewed journal for formulary management. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5565130/.
The United States Government. Ending America’s Opioid Crisis. The White House. https://www.whitehouse.gov/opioids/.
The White House (2006). Office of National Drug Control PolicyWashington,D.C.20503National Drug Control Strategy. Retrieved June 1, 2020, 2006, from: https://www.justice.gov/archive/olp/pdf/ndcs06.pdf.
Cindy Salbino RE: Discussion – Week 1
Discussion Board Post Wk1
Cindy Salbino
I come from an area in California that has a high drug addiction rate. We see patients come in on a nightly basis that are struggling with an addiction to some form of drug. Some are street drugs and some are prescription medication. It’s clear that there is a never ending battle with opioids in our country.
George W. Bush announced on February 12, 2002 that his plan was to reduce the limitations of the supply of drug, by reducing the demand available to addicts and provide them with drug treatments that are compassionate and effective. Both of these steps are to be handled together and funded with a submitted budget to Congress of $19 billion to fight the war on drugs. He then started an organization called Parents Drug Corps and called on parents across the nation to do their job by being responsible, tell their children they are loved and of course, not to do drugs (U.S. Dept. of State Archives, 2002). I absolutely agree with this strategy. The fight starts at home. If our children had the family structure that it was intended to be, our country wouldn’t be faced with the incredible situation we are in now. George W. Bush is a God fearing man who has strong family ties and he absolutely believed the solution starts at home.
When Barack Obama came along, opioid addiction was a national emergency already and despite the security of a solid funding plan, he enacted the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016. This act increased naloxone’s availability, set up a medication prescription monitoring and tracking drug diversion program and also helped with teens and adults prevention and education needs (Arlotta, CJ, 2016,para 4). The bill often referred to as CARA, didn’t hold well with groups such as the Coalition to Stop Opioid Overdose, because regarding funding, they believed that the bill didn’t go far enough. It authorized $181 million in funding, yet Obama asked for more than $1 billion in funding (Arlotta, CJ, 2016, para 6). I personally think that while he may have had good intentions, it was a ‘too little, too late’ effort on his part. While I may have that opinion, I don’t know what I would have done differently since I do not have the skill set or the advisors that a president has access too. He may have done what he thought was the best move with the information he had available to him. Unfortunately for him, “the worst of the epidemic happened on his watch, with deaths rising 71% a year from 2013-2017 when it claimed 130 lives each day” (Dinan, S., 2019).
