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Episode 472: Opioid Crisis Part 1 (Patreon)

Published:
2019-06-01 20:08:14
Edited:
2019-06-03 23:34:31
Imported:
2024-12
Tags:

Downloads

Content

This two part episode dives into the opioid crisis. If you have any experience with this issue or have any personal stories you feel like sharing please leave in the comments below. 

America's Opioid Epidemic : NPR
Listen to ‘The Daily’: How the Opioid Crisis Started - The New York Times
The Family That Profited From the Opioid Crisis - The New York Times
The New Yorker Radio Hour - How OxyContin Was Sold to the Masses | Listen via Stitcher for Podcasts
Did Free Pens Cause the Opioid Crisis? - The Atlantic
The Arthur Sackler Family's Ties to OxyContin Money - The Atlantic
Opioid Epidemic: One West Virginia Doctor’s Redemption - The Atlantic
The Giants at the Heart of the Opioid Crisis - The New York Times
The making of an opioid epidemic – podcast | News | The Guardian
NPR Throughline Podcast: History of Opioid Crisis in America – Rolling Stone

Files

Comments

Patrick Duganz

I work in parent education/case management in Montana. Before that I worked with homeless persons. My clients used to be addicted to methamphetamine, which is an awful drug but burns out of the system rather fast. An individual would have a week being tired, twitchy, and aching, and then they’d just be shaking the mental addiction. I saw a lot of people recover from that drug. Opiates are now a more common addiction. The detox is much worse, and the horror stories of opiate detox are so disturbing that people are terrified to kick it. They will spend time trying to wean themselves down to less and less, but this self-weaning is incredibly difficult, and near impossible. And so they stay addicted. Because being an addict is very much a mental/physical thing, and moderation is not something that comes naturally after years of use. Recently we’ve had more suboxone prescriptions, but it isn’t always covered by insurance, and there’s some debate over its effectiveness/addiction that it may cause. The Methadone clinic opens at 8:30, which is later than most people start their work day. Plus, if you relapse you can be “fired” from the clinic. NA is very religious where I live, and that has kept some from attending meetings. Because Montana is rural even in our “cities,” getting people in a new peer group of support with recovering addicts, or people who never used, is incredibly difficult. Because everyone knows you’re business In my work this means watching someone relapse again and again until they lose custody of their children permanently. It’s absolutely heartbreaking. But the worst part of all of this is that rural states lack much of the resources to treat people (there are two in-patient facilities in Montana, and a waitlist of months). And getting an addict to any form of treatment can be extremely difficult because a person may need to travel 40 miles for methadone, or a meeting with a therapist. They may have no car, and be unemployed because of their addiction or crimes that occurred during their period of use. So they’re isolated, surrounded by addicts in their peer group, and can’t get the treatment they need to recover. It’s frustrating and terrible. And that’s pretty much America, I guess.

Ryan Parker

Is this the episode for the week???

DodSno

Loved the episode. These deep dives are a nice complement to the regular format. Here in Canada, safe injection sites are pretty controversial, but my understanding of the numbers says they're helpful. In spite of that, and contradictory to basic empathy, I've had a co-worker tell me that (mild paraphrase) "addicts should be left to die." Assholery knows no geographic boundaries.

Eli Schrock

One thing you guys missed is how the restrictions on opiates actually cause problems for people who do need those drugs. Chronic pain patients (such as stage 4 cancer patients) need those opiates, and when the pharmacy has a red flag go up for suspicious number prescribed, patients can't get their meds. Chronic pain patients sometimes suicide because they get denied their meds.

Melina Rayna Svanhild Farley-Barratt

I have and use Oxycodone and Oxycontin to treat pain associated with my cancer. There are times I need it, and times I don't. In the past 12 months I have weened myself off of it three separate times, the last time was surprisingly quick and easy but usually entailed a process of a month followed by a week or three of sleep problems. The Oxycontin were at one time made the way it was explained in the episode, but has since been reformulated to make it very difficult to take it any other way than prescribed. The pill itself can't be ground up or chewed, it's composition is similar to a very durable sponge. My whole life I have operated under the Minimal Use rule, which is why I bother getting off of it when I can, even if it's just to be free for a month. Even when sometimes half that month is a little difficult because of it. When you have pain enough to need Oxy, taking it does not get you high. It just kills the pain. If you get high feelings you are taking too much for the level of pain you are in.