The human and financial toll of the United States’ opioid crisis is staggering. A recent analysis by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions estimates the cost in Washington alone was more than $9 billion in 2016.
While much lip service has been paid to the crisis, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., deserves credit for developing concrete measures to address the situation. The Opioids Crisis Response Act of 2018 (S. 2680), devised by Murray and Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., has been approved by the committee and now heads to the floor of the Senate. “The new analysis shows just how much our communities are losing economically as they work to face the many challenges of the opioid epidemic,” Murray said.
According to the study, Washington spent more than $7 billion on opioid-related deaths in 2016. The remainder of the cost comes from health care, addiction treatment, criminal justice, and lost productivity. The story is repeated in states across the country, with more Americans annually dying from opioid overdoses than were killed during the Vietnam War.
Last year, President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency related to the opioid crisis, but the administration was slow to develop a battle plan. In March, the president announced a vague strategy for addressing the crisis, with the emphasis being on enforcement-based policies that increase penalties for drug trafficking and dealing; for some cases, Trump has recommended the death penalty.
But a “War on Drugs” approach is a proven failure. President Richard Nixon articulated such a strategy in 1971, and President Ronald Reagan doubled down on it in 1982, toughening prison sentences for those involved in the drug trade. While Reagan talked tough about fighting the supply of illicit drugs, his administration was actively supporting cartels (such as the Contras in Nicaragua) that increased the flow of drugs into the United States. Another failure can be found in Afghanistan, where the opium poppy crop reached record levels in 2013, despite a decade of costly U.S. efforts to suppress the supply.
The current Senate bill provides a more holistic solution than tough talk and threats of jail time. The proposal includes 38 points ranging from the development of nonaddictive painkillers to state grants for improving community response. “By working together, listening to researchers, officials, experts, and families facing the crisis, and pulling in ideas from both sides of the aisle — we have been able to take an important step with this legislation toward addressing the wide set of challenges caused by the opioid epidemic,” Murray said. It is an approach all too often eschewed by Congress in an age when simplistic solutions are preferred.
The basis for the crisis can be found in painkillers made and aggressively marketed by domestic pharmaceutical companies. As a congressional investigation recently discovered, 20.8 million pain pills were shipped over the course of a decade to a pair of West Virginia pharmacies in a town that has 2,900 residents. Numerous states — including Washington — have filed lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies, alleging malfeasance that triggered the crisis.
Undoubtedly, throwing money at the problem should not be mistaken for a solution. But in speaking to stakeholders and listening to experts while involving numerous federal agencies, Murray and Alexander have taken a thoughtful approach to a pressing issue. Tougher punishment for drug traffickers might be part of the eventual solution, but addressing the issue will require more than that.
