To solve Alaska’s opioid crisis, call addiction what it is [adn.com]

Another opioid overdose death. Another drug-related crime. Another billion dollars spent on ineffective treatments. News about the opioid crisis keeps getting worse. Simple solutions haven't changed the epidemic's course. The number of deaths has continued to increase, driven by an influx of illicit fentanyl sold as heroin, as well as counterfeit pills and other illicit drugs like methamphetamine and cocaine often contaminated with fentanyl. To effectively treat this evolving public health crisis, we must recognize opioid addiction for what it is: (1) a life-threatening emergency, (2) a chronic disease and (3) a preventable condition.

First, opioid addiction is an emergency. Just as providing first aid for cardiac arrest requires an automatic external defibrillator and first aid for severe bleeding requires a tourniquet, first aid for an opioid overdose requires naloxone. In 2017, Alaska Gov. Bill Walker declared the state's opioid epidemic a public health emergency and made naloxone more readily available to all Alaskans. The U.S. Surgeon General's recent health advisory calls for increasing the drug's public availability: too often, it is not available when needed. And just as other emergencies follow first aid with immediate medical care, the same strategy should be used for opioid addiction.

Opioid addiction is a chronic disease that requires ongoing care. Addiction rewires parts of the brain that process reward and motivation, resulting in inexplicably self-destructive behavior. Like other chronic diseases, opioid addiction can be managed: people who've experienced addiction can return to successful and productive lives. Yet, only one in 10 people with opioid addiction is receiving treatment. Why? A lack of treatment providers is one barrier. An equal challenge is stigma — for too long, addiction has been considered a moral failing or a habitual series of "bad choices." Drug experimentation is a bad choice, but no one chooses a life hijacked by opioid addiction any more than a smoker chooses lung cancer.