The USA has been in the midst of the global news cycle due to its handling of the COVID-19 crisis. As one of the worst-hit nations in the world for numbers and deaths, the USA has found the pandemic increasingly hard to overcome. However, a major issue regarding the pandemic has been that, while it has been going on, many other key health services have been reduced or outright abandoned. This has left many people, including the massive numbers of opioid addicts in the USA, high and dry with regards to support.
Indeed, opioid related deaths are on the rise amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Reduced support and an inability to help offer treatment space for new addicts has played a significant role in this increase in deaths. Some even point to the fact that since 1999 we have seen over half a million deaths – around 535,000 lives – lost to opioid addiction. While COVID has claimed a similar number in less than a year, it shows the hidden, almost silent, power of opioid addiction – and the catastrophic impact it has nationwide.
Indeed, there is a stark increase in fatalities in the last year stemming from opioid intake. Many people struggle to overcome opioid addictions when they have a strong family life, a full-time job, and social contact. Think, then, how hard it is to do in a period where isolation is commonplace, social contact is at best managed digitally, and employment opportunities are as sparse as they have arguably ever been.
These are worrying times and the solution is sadly very hard to find – if at all. The need for resources to be poured into COVID-19 has seen many other key medical issues, including the US opioid crisis, continue in silence.
What happens now?
With the challenge to get support either from friends, family, or professionals, many are turning to drug deals and illicit activity. The days are long, the nights longer still, when prospects are minimalised. As such, even prior to COVID there was no quick fix to the sickness in American society regarding opioids. There is no magic button, no wand to wave; just a steady approach that focuses on making life easier for as many people as it can.
In short, the only thing that can happen now is an approach that looks to slowly but surely open back up the key facilities that Americans need to receive treatment. With illegal fentanyl being sold in worryingly large doses by black market dealers, there really is little that can be done to stop the problem from exploding further.
Until more action can be taken to sideline COVID and re-affirm focus on other potential health issues, there really is little that can be done to overcome the severity of incident.
Today, we simply need to accept one thing: that there is a crisis within a crisis. Already fanning the flames of destruction prior to COVID, painting a positive picture on the future of the US opioid crisis is extremely challenging.
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