Drug Policy Reform — What Can The US Learn From Its Failure To Contain The Opioid Epidemic?

Americans are increasingly addicted to opioids. In 2015, more than 52,000 people died of drug overdoses, of which approximately 33,000 were from opioids including prescription painkillers and heroin, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. As the US struggles to contain this crisis, however, it should be quick to draw the parallel between the rapid increase in the use of opioids in the country and the ongoing discussion about broader drug policy reform. Vox's German Lopez helps readers do precisely that. 

The US pain pill problem

The media has reported on the dangerous effects of the epidemic on the United States — from New England to the Pacific Northwest, and the disproportionate risks it poses for the poor and the mentally ill. 

The topic is now very much at the center of the agenda. In March, President Donald Trump set up a panel to study the crisis and recommend policy changes. Likely solutions require getting opioid users into treatment, but calls for increased funding have not borne fruit.

Lopez argues that under the influence of lobbying, campaign donations, and drugmaker-funded advocacy groups, the government's regulatory capacity to contain the opioid addiction crisis was thwarted. But cigarettes and alcohol point to similar failures of US policy to combat drug misuse. 

This is the key as the US moves forward to end its prohibition approach to drug policy. But rather than adopting full blown legalization schemes, the country would to better to adopt a greater public health approach and relax the severity of punishment.

"As with many policy debates, this is really about picking between a bunch of unsatisfactory options." Lopez' analysis is thoughtful and honest about the trade-offs involved in the policy debate. And while it is focused on the US, some of its lessons come from drug policy schemes tried out elsewhere, like Portugal and Canada.