The approach to opioids in the US stresses punishment and crackdowns over treatment,which stereotypes users and harms patients who need pain reliefFor the past six days, reports that opioids were found in Prince’s home (or “on him”, or according to some news sources) at the time of his death bear dovetailed one national tragedy – the untimely death of a revered musician – with another: the so-called “opioid epidemic that is blamed for more deaths each year than car or gun accidents.
Much of this alarm,captured in headlines such as “Was Prince a casualty of the opioid epidemic?” and “Prince’s death puts opioid crisis at center stage, has rightly resulted in calls for better ways to address opioid exhaust in the country. And it has helped us focus on the issue of susceptibility – whether Prince, and with all the medical and financial resources available to a multimillionaire,could die from opioid exhaust, it’s clear that we misunderstand how these pain relievers are prescribed and used. It’s also clear that the treatment system we bear built on those misunderstandings is causing more harm than profitable.
Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com