Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Death Reinforces Our Greatest Public Health Crisis
National Council; Linda Rosenberg, 2/7/2014Days after he was found dead in his apartment from a heroin overdose, Philip Seymour Hoffman is not even trending on Twitter any more. Old news already! Hollywood paid its tributes. And we鈥檙e ready to move on.Hoffman鈥檚 death is the latest in a string of celebrity overdose deaths. But as before, we experience no sustained outrage. We see no attempt to address what is clearly America鈥檚 biggest public health crisis 鈥攕ubstance use disorders.As Vermont鈥檚 Governor Peter Shumlin reinforced during his State of the State, heroin is a public health problem that needs a public health solution: treatment.Hoffman鈥檚 history reminds us that heroin is not a new problem. He was in recovery for more than two decades, but as with so many others, he relapsed. In 2008, when there was a crackdown on prescription opioids鈥 in reaction to the growing number of fatalities 鈥 it led to a drastic drop in the availability of prescription opioids. But opioid addiction has not gone down: instead, people appear to be turning to heroin, it鈥檚 cheaper and it鈥檚 available.For every Hoffman, there are hundreds like , a 16-year-old who died from an overdose after her very first heroin injection. Her story was in the news just a day before Hoffman was found dead. James J. Hunt, acting special agent in charge with the Drug Enforcement Administration, says heroin is 鈥減ummeling the northeast, leaving addiction, overdoses, and fear in its wake.鈥漇ome think that when someone overdoses, it鈥檚 because they didn鈥檛 use drugs in a smart way. But with heroin, there is no 鈥渟mart鈥 way. Nobody knows what鈥檚 in a batch. Recently heroin鈥檚 potency appears to be boosted by forms of fentanyl. There鈥檚 no way to tell until it鈥檚 too late. Harm reduction messages are important: don鈥檛 inject alone, take advantage of 鈥淕ood Samaritan鈥 laws to call 911, and have naloxone available for resuscitation. These are short-term solutions to save lives. But the longer-term solution can be only in comprehensive treatment and community supports.We must redesign care for substance use disorders using a chronic disease model and create capacity to deliver such care in every community. It will take the growing movement of people in recovery and their families as well as families that have lost their loved ones, supported by all of us 鈥 advocates, researchers, organizational leaders, educators and practitioners 鈥 together driving policy and practice change. The time has come.To read more and join the conversation with your comments, .
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