Who’s to Blame for the Opioid Crisis?

“Attack the evil that is within yourself, rather than attacking the evil that is in others.”
― Confucius

I wanted to change things up a little in today’s installment and share my views regarding addiction and probably the most common question in our culture today. Who’s to blame? Unfortunately, I think that we expend way too much effort looking for the one individual or organization that is to blame for whatever problem or recent disaster that we see. There will always be a limit to our resources, so it is counter-productive to expend effort berating/shaming/suing the “responsible party” when we could be trying to solve the problem. So, let’s settle this once and for all (sarcasm) with today’s addiction topic, “Who’s to Blame for the Opioid Crisis?”.

The Addict?

I think that in every installment that I have written, I have stated that addicts need to accept responsibility for their initiating mistakes/actions, with the understanding that addiction then rapidly changed their thought processes.  I believe, and that belief comes from people who are much more knowledgeable and experienced than I, that accepting responsibility is essential to recovery.  As discussed in previous installments though, we cannot hang all the blame on the addict as there are factors that lead to addiction that are outside of an individual’s control and addiction itself overwhelms self-control.

Is the addict to blame?  Somewhat, but let’s hold off on the torches and pitchforks.  As a family, we suffered tremendously from our son’s addiction, but not nearly as much as he suffered.  He never wanted to hurt us, and he certainly never wanted to suffer the way he did.  Initially using drugs was a big mistake that he made, with consequences that are far greater than the rewards.

Dealers and Suppliers of Illegal Drugs

Back in the seventies, you had to “watch out for the pusher” that person that would tempt you or trick you with drugs.  Maybe that was real or maybe that is what we told ourselves, but now we have dealers.  Dealers may tempt you, but it seems that they don’t have to work as hard as the pusherman did.  Most street-level dealers are just users supporting their own addiction, it is the suppliers that make the big money at our expense.  Most of our illegal hard drugs are brought in from south of the border.  Fentanyl precursors are manufactured in China and sold to drug cartels south of the border where they make the fentanyl, package it and ship it north to destroy our society.  Now that we have made it hard to get the supplies to cook crystal meth locally, it is being manufactured by drug cartels that ship it north and sell it cheaply.  It really is a win-win situation for them because they make lots of money and they destroy the USA at the same time.

So, is it all the fault of the illegal, foreign drug suppliers?  Somewhat, but if no one was buying they wouldn’t be selling.  I don’t think that it is commonly the pusherman that starts the problem, they just exploit it.

Big Pharmaceutical Companies

Pharmaceutical companies make money by manufacturing, marketing, and selling legal drugs that make our life and life expectancy much better.  We know that some pharmaceutical companies marketed the use of opiate pain killers for chronic (long-term) pain, when they knew it was only effective for acute (short-term) pain like you have after surgery.  Some companies sold opiate pain killers in quantities that were far too great for the area in which they were sent.  In other words, they knew or should have known that some of what they sold was not being used as intended.  When we cracked down on the sale of legal opiates, the unintended consequence was that many addicts turned to heroin because it was cheaper.  In the addict’s twisted thoughts, it becomes an economic decision to use heroin.

Are big pharmaceuticals to blame for the opiate crisis because they caused the demand and made money continuing to supply opiates when they knew that they were being abused?  Somewhat, they probably have a role in the problem, but they are not the main cause. Sure, there are some addicts that inadvertently got hooked but I suspect that many if not most addicts had some idea what they were doing when they started abusing the drug. The pharmaceutical companies make drugs that help us in so many ways, but greed may have caused some to turn a blind eye to the abuse.

The Government

You may believe that the Government is responsible for making sure that we are all safe, so they fell down on the job when they let legal drugs get abused and illegal drugs come across the border.  I can’t accept that argument.  I believe that we must accept responsibility for our own safety.  Here come my political leanings.  The Government should provide things like national security, disaster relief, the police, courts, and common things that we all use like roads, but we are only truly free when we accept responsibility to take care of ourselves.  On the other hand, many of the drugs that are abused come across the border so doesn’t that make it a national security issue.  Can’t the Government do more to help with recovery?  In my opinion, of course they can but first we all need to understand the problem and that is what this blog is all about.

Is the Government to blame for our problems?  The whole national security/drugs crossing the border thing is an interesting spin, but in my opinion, it is just that spin.  In my opinion, the Government must continue to try to stop the flow of drugs into this country, but you will never stop the supply until you stop the demand.  So, like our current administration or hate them, like our former administrations or hate them, it doesn’t matter, let’s stop wasting our energy scapegoating them for something that is not their fault.

Doctors and (Impatient) Patients

This one may not make me too popular but let’s be honest.  Sure, there are some bad physicians out there who overprescribe, run pill mills, but most doctors are conscientious and truly care about the well-being of their patients.  The problem as I see it is that many people have become impatient and lazy.  Many don’t want to put up with whatever malady they have and don’t want to put effort into their treatment or recovery.  “I am uncomfortable, can’t you just give me a pill for that.”  Our expectations of the health care system are too high.  We want something outside of ourselves to “fix what ails us”, rather than putting forth the very heavy effort of working through it ourselves.  This is one reason that I strongly favor physical therapy.

Are we to blame for the opioid crisis?  No, I never made anyone use drugs or even suggested that they should.  I doubt that you did either.  BUT our attitudes and expectations toward health care may be contributing to the addiction crisis.  My son began using because he was looking for a way to quiet the thoughts in his head that made him feel that he was no good and he was far from unique.  Turning to something outside himself is what society showed him is the way to fix it.

So, Who Is to Blame for the Opioid Crisis

I am sure you saw this conclusion coming from a mile away.  To some degree we are all to blame.  So, it is settled, quick pointing a finger, quit wagging a finger, put that finger away and use your hands to help end this crisis.  Make some effort to understand what is going on, to understand addiction and the addict, so that you can see the changes that we need to make, then do something about them.

It is obvious that we need to do what we can to cut off the supply of drugs that are being abused and we have made great strides in that area.  But to solve the problem we must stop making more addicts and help those that are already in addiction’s grip.  The supply only exists because the demand exists.  And my personal opinion, the government needs to take a big role in addressing supply and demand but we (and I mean everyone) needs to make an effort to understand and we need to roll up our sleeves and help where we can.  Maybe you feel strongly that you should put some effort into a problem other than addiction like poverty, cancer, etc. Good for you, do it.  What I am saying is let’s be more understanding, less judgmental, and do something to make things better for everyone.

Do you have thoughts to share? Please comment, let’s work together and help each other to solve this problem.

I hope that you will join me next week for a discussion of “You Should Know What Addiction is Like”.