Comment on "Opioid Crisis and the Bandaid to Fix It"

After reading your argument for a proactive treatment plan for the opioid crisis, as opposed to an ad campaign, I agree entirely. The strengths of your argument include the colloquial voice and statistical information. Just as you point out, the Reagan era “Just Say No” campaign achieved nothing in combating the drug crisis in the United States. The idea that “saying no” to opioids is a solution to the fact “140 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose” is preposterous, partially because many people become addicted after prescriptions from medical professionals. 

Arguably, one of the worst public policy decisions of the United States is the “War on Drugs,” because of its blatant failure and criminalization of addiction rather than treating it as a public health crisis. I come from a family of addicts, from alcohol to opioids to heroin, and I have seen the struggle against addiction; from this firsthand experience, I understand addiction will not go away from an ad campaign or from a prison sentence, rather there needs to be real action, which the Trump administration is not dedicated to.

Also, if you are really interested in combating drug addiction, and different policies, you might want to look into Portugal’s drug policy. The interesting thing about Portugal is that all drugs are legal there, and the focus is more on treatment than criminalization.