Dr. Jay Butler is the chief medical officer of the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services and he posted this opinion piece about what needs to happen in order to solve this opioid crisis. Addiction is a life-threatening emergency, a chronic disease, and a preventable condition. The piece expands on why he believes this way and what will happen when we start to think of addiction this way.
http://juneauempire.com/opinion/2018-04-24/solve-opioid-crisis-call-addiction-what-it
Do you agree with his opinion? Do you believe that if we were to start calling addiction what it is that we would finally start to solve this opioid crisis? Do you agree with the measures that he suggests along with calling addiction a life-threatening emergency, a chronic disease, and a preventable condition?
I would agree with all of the statements Dr. Jay Butler made. Addiction is definitely a disease that can be prevented, and even when it does happen, taking an evidence-based approach to helping addicts could truly give them a much better chance of beating addiction and surviving
ReplyDeleteThe stigma surrounding addiction and other diseases need to be removed. I agree strongly with Dr. Butler's points about how addiction is preventable. It is an emergency that will require a huge amount of public support to tackle.
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ReplyDeleteAfter watching the Chris Herren story, I realized that there is so much more at stake in ensuring we tackle recovery properly. The addicts as well as their families are dependent on effective, evidence-based solutions like MAT and educational programs that target both recovery and rehabilitation.
ReplyDeleteI agree, addiction is a disease that needs to be addressed medically. We have seen time and time again that addicts are sick and need help similar to how others get help for disease
ReplyDeleteYes, addiction needs to be treated holistically...not only through medication, but also through other methods that should be covered by insurance companies such as therapy etc. to avoid relapse and to help addicts cope with the transformation that their lives have incurred.
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