U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross, D-N.J., outlines steps he says need to be taken to overcome the crisis.
By Donald Norcross
More than 60,000 of our loved ones will die this year to the disease of addiction. This is a national emergency. That fact may seem painfully obvious to the millions of families across America with a family member who is struggling with, or who has been lost to, addiction. Yet, many still refuse to call it a disease or an emergency.
President Donald Trump finally did, something that was long overdue. So, now let's provide resources for a public health emergency fund. Every delay means another one of our children, grandchildren, mothers and fathers will die.
At 60,000-plus deaths a year, this number is more than the American lives lost than in the whole of the Vietnam War. And 60,000 is probably a low estimate, because the stigma associated with addiction causes many families to suffer shame if the cause were disclosed publicly. The stigma must end if we have any hope of addressing this crisis.
The American Medical Association defines addiction as a disease. It is not a moral failing or a mental defect. The first and most important step we can do as a society is admit that we have a problem. Let's treat addiction as a medical condition rather than a moral or criminal issue. Doing so will allow families to come out of the shadows and go into the arms of professionals who are eager to help.
Thankfully, attitudes are beginning to change. I recently held a community conversation on the disease of addiction at Washington Township High School. Hundreds of people attended and thousands tuned in online to watch the discussion. Our neighbors told their stories. They were brave and realistic, and they explained how the words we use matter, and how having sufficient resources matter.
In Congress, I serve as the vice-chair of the Bipartisan Task Force to Combat the Heroin Epidemic, and our group knows we need smart, multi-faceted solutions. From helping states expand inpatient treatment, to improving the response to babies who were exposed to opioids during pregnancy, we have worked together on a dozen policy solutions this year alone. Earlier this month, I announced a plan to improve addiction education guidelines and curricula to better train doctors who are providing highly addictive drugs, including more information about non-opiate pain management options.
But the scale of this crisis demands significant resources and a resolve to put aside partisan politics. I recently spoke to doctors from Kennedy University Hospital who were very concerned with "doctor shopping," involving patients in our area who have been getting prescriptions from multiple providers and across state lines. New Jersey and Pennsylvania have not been sharing information to help stop the practice.
I immediately spoke to U.S. Rep. Pat Meehan, a Republican colleague from Montgomery County, Pa., and we petitioned our respective governors -- in each case, from the opposite party. Within a month, our two states announced they'll start exchanging information. It's a solid step, and we'll need many more like it in order to turn the tide.
The Trump administration just released a report with many of the same recommendations we've been pushing for in Congress. Now, we all need to put our full support behind the effort. I stand ready to work together, but we also have to be honest about the issue.
Law enforcement experts say we can't arrest our way out of this problem. Plus, actions to strip health coverage from millions of Americans clearly won't help, either.
The disease of addiction is a national emergency and we must help those who are suffering. Tell that truth to yourself, your loved ones, and your neighbors. Tell it to your doctor, your pastor and your president. Once we do that, we can begin to act and overcome this crisis.
U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross, D-1st Dist, represents most of Camden County and part of Gloucester County in Congress.
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