Where is the state’s leadership on the overdose crisis?
The recent release of results from a Siena College poll on opioid use might lead some to believe that the overdose epidemic is hopeless. I cannot believe that: I believe there is always hope. But I am concerned that government is not doing what is necessary.
Eighty-one percent of those who were polled said they still believe that addiction is a moral failing. Sixty-eight percent said their lives have been touched by opioids; 72% believe that the problem has gotten worse in the past few years; and 64% believe that government is not doing enough to address the problem. These numbers tell us what we need to know: We are in a crisis, and to help resolve it, we need more state leadership.
The single biggest issue facing addiction care providers is the inability to recruit and retain workers. New York needs to develop a plan to address workforce issues. One step toward boosting the workforce will be to increase Medicaid reimbursement rates by reclaiming funds given to Medicaid managed-care plans for treatment services that were not spent on those services.
The state must also increase access to naloxone, the opioid overdose reversal medicine. Government cannot continue to buy only one naloxone product when there are many Fda-approved products on the market. New York has not issued an open, competitive procurement for naloxone in almost a decade.
We also need to increase access to buprenorphine, a medicine with strong success in treating opioid use disorder. Emergency medical technicians should be allowed to provide this medicine to those they treat on the front lines.
Government needs to increase access to recovery services and supports. Housing for those in recovery from addiction decreases their chances of relapse. And we must expand the use of recovery centers or clubhouses that offer nonclinical support and offer access to services, training, information and a drugfree community.
And finally, the state needs to better distribute informa
tion about the science of addiction, highlighting that addiction is a medical condition that can be treated.
What concerns me most about the poll results is best summarized by the statement from Don Levy, Siena’s polling director: “Shockingly, one in three, 36%, now know someone who has died from an opioid overdose.” That number is up from 24% in 2018 — a 50% increase.
I have worked on drug policy for almost two decades at the state and federal level, and I have met too many who have lost a loved one to overdose. Their pain is everlasting and, at times, overwhelming. I do not wish that loss on anyone. It is unnatural for kids to die before their parents, for grandparents raise their grandchildren. New York’s leaders have met the moment before, and it is essential that they rise to this moment and help us find a way out of this crisis.
Robert Kent was general counsel at the state Office of Addiction Services and Supports from 2007 to 2020 and served as the general counsel in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy during the first two years of the Biden-harris administration.