The White House announced a new initiative today that pairs law enforcement officials with public health agents, thereby shifting its focus from punishing heroin addicts to treating them.
The Heroin epidemic: more users and more deaths
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more people are using heroin, including demographic groups⎯⎯ like women and people with high incomes ⎯that were earlier associated with low heroin use. The deaths associated with heroin overdose have nearly quadrupled between 2002 and 2013⎯more than 8200 people died in 2013.
Heroin is a highly addictive, illegal opiate drug that could result in death by overdose. Moreover, heroin users tend to be addicted to other opiate prescription drugs, marijuana and alcohol, which increases their likelihood of overdosing. The CDC calls for increased measures at the federal and state level to handle preventive and therapeutic measures for heroin overdose in vulnerable communities.
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The White House plan to end the war on heroin
The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy unveiled a pilot program for $5 million covering 15 states from the New England to Washington D.C. area. Public health officials and drug intelligence officers come together to gather data on where the heroin is coming from, where and how it gets laced with a deadly additive, and what are the distribution channels being employed to get the drug to the street-level dealers. Heroin laced with fentanyl ⎯a legal opioid drug used to relieve post-surgical pain ⎯has been responsible for many heroin-related deaths. This initiative centered on the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas of the United States, hopes to collect overdose data, find patterns in trafficking behavior, and plan interventions faster than what is available today. The input of public health officials helps with training first-responders to quickly use medications like naloxone that could reverse the effects of heroin, thereby preventing deaths.
A comprehensive approach to fight against heroin use
A key component of the new plan to end the war on heroin is the shift of priorities from law enforcement to treatment of heroin addiction. The program plans to forego arrests in favor of preventing deaths from drug overdose, an initiative that seems to work. The public policy officials employed under this plan would analyze the data to identify spikes in drug use and monitor targets moving across state lines with the help of law enforcement coordinators. This free communication across state lines would help faster tracking and response.
Bringing together public heath and law enforcement seems to be the best way to tackle the surge in heroin addiction.
Speaking of drugs, how do we give up coffee?:
The White House War on Heroin: Treatment May Be Better than Punishment
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