Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

America’s opioid epidemic is worsening

economist.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 321 posts

Re: America’s opioid epidemic is worsening

#11

Post by tyingq »

savanaly wrote: post #4

Given that this article only touches on the supply of these drugs, is there a tacit assumption that the demand for opioids is driven by unemployment? If so, what can be done about the demand for these drugs in the long term? "Bringing back jobs" to those people whose comparative advantage is no longer manufacturing by taxing robots or imposing tariffs is a temporary stall, and to the degree it does work it amounts to…

I'm not sure anyone really knows why the demand is so huge.

Unemployment seems obvious, but it's not. New Hampshire, for example, if often cited as one of the areas hit the worst by opiate addiction. Yet, it's doing well with unemployment, in relative terms.

1 year old, but relevant: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/430841/whats-matter-new...

Re: America’s opioid epidemic is worsening

#12

Post by padobson »

I live in Trumbull County in Ohio, the dark red county in North East Ohio. We recently had 23 (non-fatal) overdoses in a two-day period[0]. That's roughly .01% of the county's total population - so yeah, it's getting bad here.

There were recently two shootings within a mile of my house. Several people dead. Both shootings were drug related.

I can't help but look around and believe that the needs these folks are trying to satisfy are completely human, and that forcing the users to resort to black markets leads to violence and overdoses. I can't help but think this problem in my community could be solved by simply letting people get high.

Maybe the answer isn't to make heroin available OTC at Walgreens, but supervised injection sites seem to be gaining traction[1]. I think a lot of the dark red spots on the map, like mine, should probably consider this option.

It's not like anything else is working.

[0]http://www.tribtoday.com/news/latest-news/2017/03/fri-920-pm... [1]http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/safe-injecti...

Re: America’s opioid epidemic is worsening

#13

Post by pm90 »

savanaly wrote: post #4

Given that this article only touches on the supply of these drugs, is there a tacit assumption that the demand for opioids is driven by unemployment? If so, what can be done about the demand for these drugs in the long term? "Bringing back jobs" to those people whose comparative advantage is no longer manufacturing by taxing robots or imposing tariffs is a temporary stall, and to the degree it does work it amounts to…

There has to be a some kind of change in lifestyle. Like you said, trying to cutoff supply will only criminalize the activity and make it worse. I've heard, among other solutions, recommending yoga, physical therapy etc. instead of immediately prescribing opiod painkillers. This is certainly an important problem and I'm as interested as you are in what the solutions might be.

Re: America’s opioid epidemic is worsening

#14

Post by DougN7 »

mmanfrin wrote: post #7
savanaly wrote: post #4

Given that this article only touches on the supply of these drugs, is there a tacit assumption that the demand for opioids is driven by unemployment? If so, what can be done about the demand for these drugs in the long term? "Bringing back jobs" to those people whose comparative advantage is no longer manufacturing by taxing robots or imposing tariffs is a temporary stall, and to the degree it does work it amounts to…

Decriminalization and an expansion of social programs to help addiction recovery. It's hard for people to get help when they fear legal troubles. Unfortunately neither of these will happen in the next 4 years; and likely the opposite will happen, so we're in for a worsening.

This doesn't help the root cause of people starting to use them in the first place. It's helpful to some though.

Re: America’s opioid epidemic is worsening

#15

Post by devopsproject »

savanaly wrote: post #4

Given that this article only touches on the supply of these drugs, is there a tacit assumption that the demand for opioids is driven by unemployment? If so, what can be done about the demand for these drugs in the long term? "Bringing back jobs" to those people whose comparative advantage is no longer manufacturing by taxing robots or imposing tariffs is a temporary stall, and to the degree it does work it amounts to…

> Fighting the "epidemic" at the supply level seems like a losing battle

Kermit, West Virginia. Population 392. They received over 9 million hydrocodone pills in a two year period.

In a 6 year period, the entire state of WV received 780 million pills. Over 400 pills for every man, woman, and child living in WV.

Seems like attacking the supply is great place to start. WV doesn't need this many pills.

Re: America’s opioid epidemic is worsening

#16

Post by devopsproject »

DoodleBuggy wrote: post #8

Hard to believe there is really an "epidemic" beyond typical fearmongering and political noise. People have always used drugs, this is nothing new. Unfortunately all the hype and noise is having significantly negative consequences to the medical community, doctors, and patients who actually need these things.

Here are some alternative facts. Red means bad: https://www.brighthearthealth.com/wp-content/uploads/OpioidA...

Re: America’s opioid epidemic is worsening

#17

Post by pjmorris »

DoodleBuggy wrote: post #8

Hard to believe there is really an "epidemic" beyond typical fearmongering and political noise. People have always used drugs, this is nothing new. Unfortunately all the hype and noise is having significantly negative consequences to the medical community, doctors, and patients who actually need these things.

I offer links to an engaging blog post [0] and a scholarly paper [1] that both suggest there is more to the epidemic than 'fearmongering and political noise'. Could you elaborate on the evidence for your beliefs?

[0] https://morecrows.wordpress.com/2016/05/10/unnecessariat/

[1] http://www.pnas.org/content/112/49/15078.abstract

Re: America’s opioid epidemic is worsening

#18

Post by eric_h »

DoodleBuggy wrote: post #8

Hard to believe there is really an "epidemic" beyond typical fearmongering and political noise. People have always used drugs, this is nothing new. Unfortunately all the hype and noise is having significantly negative consequences to the medical community, doctors, and patients who actually need these things.

https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/data/statedeaths.html

Epidemic may be a strong word, but the rate of opiate overdose deaths certainly does seem to be increasing, and it's likely that cracking down on the supply of pain pills is a contributing factor to this.

Re: America’s opioid epidemic is worsening

#19

Post by DougN7 »

pnathan wrote: post #10

So what is the answer here? Like another poster said, there's a demand problem. How do we as a society address this? I've seen a lot of mumbles about dealing with supply problems, dealing with overdose problems, but it'd be good to head the problems off at the pass before they descend into major trouble. I should also note, this is a burgeoning problem in the Puget Sound/Seattle region. It's not just rural people dyi…

Preventing that first time is probably the secret. It's got to be so much harder to resist once you know what you're missing. And it's not like you're rational about it and considering long term consequences when you're confronted with a second opportunity.

Unfortunately, we live in a society where it's all good, live free, don't judge, do what feels good, etc. That leads to things that feel extremely good...

I'm grateful to parents, teachers and some scary videos in high school health class that taught me to stay away.

Re: America’s opioid epidemic is worsening

#20

Post by pnathan »

devopsproject wrote: post #15
savanaly wrote: post #4

Given that this article only touches on the supply of these drugs, is there a tacit assumption that the demand for opioids is driven by unemployment? If so, what can be done about the demand for these drugs in the long term? "Bringing back jobs" to those people whose comparative advantage is no longer manufacturing by taxing robots or imposing tariffs is a temporary stall, and to the degree it does work it amounts to…

> Fighting the "epidemic" at the supply level seems like a losing battle Kermit, West Virginia. Population 392. They received over 9 million hydrocodone pills in a two year period. In a 6 year period, the entire state of WV received 780 million pills. Over 400 pills for every man, woman, and child living in WV. Seems like attacking the supply is great place to start. WV doesn't need this many pills.

> Seems like attacking the supply is great place to start.

That is what was done, transferring the demand to heroin as opposed to oxy. Also, focusing on the supply side of things is the last 30 years of US policy: it's not worked effectively, and has a concomitant effect of incentivizing black market dealers to be wealthy and power. It'd be better to sell OTC heroin than to fund violent gangs, just in the name of limiting side effects.

Post reply on HN