Episode 66: The Opioid Crisis in the U.S.

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 Ian: Hey everyone, you are listening to “Coffee with Gringos.” I'm Ian Kennedy.

Paige:  And I'm Paige Sutherland.

Ian: And today, we're going to talk about an epidemic that has been plaguing the US for more than a few years now. We're going to be talking about the opioid crisis today. So, what we have going on in the United States is you have very large pharmaceutical companies that push these medicines, these pills, on people—one of them being the family of opioids, which includes a whole host of different medicines. But what has been happening is these are highly addictive medicines they get given to people either who have surgery or chronic pain and end up becoming very, very addicted to these to these pills. And in many cases, it leads to other drug use— it leads to them using heroin, other illegal drugs, and it's resulted in a lot of accidental deaths. So, it's absolutely a crisis that's happening but I don't think it gets reported a lot outside of the United States, so we wanted to talk about that today. So, Paige, what do you know about the opioid crisis? As far as maybe in the north where you're from in the United States, around the Boston area, what's it been like up there?

Paige: When I lived in the US, I lived in New Hampshire for a couple years which was one of the states that was hardest hit with the opiate crisis because New Hampshire, it's a small population and a lot of working-class people. And the thing about this epidemic was unlike most other drugs, this drug didn't discriminate. It touched every income level, every race, every gender. So, I think that really shocked the country, because most times, you know, when you're talking about hard drugs that, you know, it's people who maybe were incarcerated, who are low income or in the crime activity.  Like, there's the numbers to prove that. But with this what happened is someone went snowboarding and broke their leg and got prescribed, legally, these painkillers. And then when they got addicted, they ran out of their prescriptions, but they were so addicted that they turned to street opioids or harder stuff, which is heroin, because it's cheaper and easier to get. So, I think that really shocked the country because you have people who are just, you know, the average person using something as strong as heroin, which sometimes you inject.  It's a very hard, hard drug to use.

Ian: And I think the part that's really shocking is, it's being given out by pharmaceutical companies, it's being given out by doctors. And these are the institutions that traditionally you think, “Okay, so if a doctor, if a medical company is prescribing me this drug, then it must be good for me. It must be okay.” And the problem goes a lot deeper than that, because the pharmaceutical industry in the United States is enormous, probably one of the biggest industries that exists. It's really just become the business of pushing pills on people. And it's hard to stop the businesses from continuing that business cycle and pushing those drugs. And with the influence that they have with politics, it's also hard to keep them separated. So, what really should be a real crisis, a real war on these pharmaceutical companies, a lot of them are just kind of given passes or are not being punished as hard as they should be. And they're destroying the fabric of America. And like you said, you know, these aren’t criminals. This is, you know, your grandma maybe who has a back problem where she got a surgery and now, she's addicted to these painkillers and she can't get off them. And it's just causing people to make bad decisions to look for more desperate solutions, and it's really sad to see.

Paige: Absolutely. I think, like you said, these companies are such a huge industry. And luckily, you know, I mean it's been many, many years of this epidemic but finally, these pharmaceutical companies right now are facing some accountability. There's been so many lawsuits from all the various states who have had countless deaths who said, you know, “Our people are dying. We need to stop this industry from pushing pills on us.” So, a lot of these lawsuits are winning, and these are billions of dollars that these pharmaceutical companies are being sued. And it's a very similar story as the tobacco industry, where the tobacco industry was just selling cigarettes and saying, you know, they're fine. And then they lost that lawsuit and then they had to say that these will give you cancer. Like, these are dangerous and that was what was happening with the opiate crisis is they were pushing pills and not warning people how addicting they were—people are going to addicted and they said, “not my problem.” But now the government is saying, “it is [your problem].” Like, you have to warn people, you can't overprescribe, there will be consequences. So, I think now doctors are gonna prescribe less and tell people about the dangers of these drugs, but it's sad that it took so many lives dying for this to change.

Ian: Yeah, exactly. And like we were talking about earlier; the influence of these companies is enormous and the United States is actually one of three countries in the entire world that allows advertising for pharmaceutical companies. So, it's treated like, you know, it's food from the grocery store or a Coca-Cola. And it's something that's more powerful than heroin. I mean, there's something wrong with that.

Paige: I didn't even know that. That’s pretty sad. I'm not surprised, given how many ads I've seen and how powerful the industry is, but yeah, that's pretty sad. I think the other thing too, like going back to the deaths is, I think this stat is more people are dying from opioids than car crashes now. It's insane, it's, you know, one of the top killers in the country. And I think in the US, it's very well known, because it's touched every state, you know. Most people know a friend or a family member who's died or has been addicted. But I think outside, in the international arena, it's not really well known because this crisis doesn't really exist. You know most people who are addicted to heroin in other countries are, it's a small subset and it doesn't touch all demographics.

Ian: Yeah, it's interesting that you that you mentioned that, you know, it's one of those things that you think, you know, won't happen to me—it won't happen to someone I know—until it does happen. And I personally, I know I've had three or four friends, overdose and die. So, yeah, it's something I never thought I would have to face or something I thought would happen to our country but that's, that's what's really happening. And what's even worse is that it’s something that's so preventable. Especially now you see with the rise and the legalization of marijuana, it's a really great alternative to these pain pills that are causing so many problems. It's something that needs to change soon and I hope these pharmaceutical companies really get held accountable for what they're doing.

Paige: Absolutely. I think what's also changed, which is great, in the US is for many years there was this quote—unquote “war on drugs.” And so, police would just treat any drug addict as a criminal, lock them up and hope that that would do the trick—which it never did. I mean, most people that have drug problems, the criminal justice system, always makes things worse. So, I think with this opiate crisis, touching so many families and people in every demographic, that there are many jurisdictions where police don't arrest people, they send them to treatment. And I think that has really changed the mentality of the whole country for the better. I mean, a lot of times drug addicts don't want to be drug addicts, you know, and they all they need is a little help. And besides the police, not arresting people and helping people, there's also been more investments in treatment programs. So, a lot of states have put millions of dollars so that there aren't big waiting lists that if you want help, there will be help available. Which that wasn't the case for many years. So, I think there's a lot of things changing that hopefully, you know, this epidemic will be in the past.

Ian: I agree. I hope it continues to be seen as something that's more of a sickness than like a crime, because, like you said, for a long time people have just either been afraid to say something if they had a problem, or they just always been treated, “Oh, you're a drug user, you're a criminal. You aren’t going to get help.” When really these people need to complete opposite. They need help, they need support, they need a safe place to do those drugs, if they're addicted and they're trying to get off. I think we need a more, like, compassionate treatment than just shunning or calling people criminals like traditionally the United States has pretty much always done with the “war on drugs.” So, we're starting to see this attitude shift and I hope, I hope it keeps moving in that direction for the sake of the health and the happiness of people.

Paige: Definitely. I mean stats show a majority of people who are locked up are in for drug crimes. Which unfortunately, stats show that it's very easy to get drugs in prison and a lot of people, almost get addicted in prison. so, it's just such a bad environment to be in if you're a drug addict. So, it's definitely not the right solution, it hasn't been for decades and finally I think policymakers are realizing that.

Ian: Yeah, about time.

Paige: So, today's episode was a little dark, but I think we just wanted to talk about something in our country that hasn't really been known around the world but has really deeply been affecting everyone that is from the US. So again, if you get lost, check out that audio transcript and guide online. Thanks again for listening.

Ian: We'll catch you next time. 

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Key Vocabulary, Phrases and Slang:

1.     epidemic (noun): widespread of a disease in a community.  

a.     The bacterial epidemic spread throughout the city.

2.     to plague (verb): to cause trouble or distress.

a.     The corruption plagued the citizens for many years.

3.     opioid (noun): highly-addictive drug used to decrease physical pain; often given to patients after surgery.

a.      The doctors were giving their patients opioids every day.

4.     chronic (adjective): happening or existing for a long period of time.  

a.     She had chronic pain in her back before she had surgery.

5.     to discriminate (verb): to identify differences between certain things.  

a.     Diseases don’t discriminate and will attack anything they can.

6.     incarcerated (adjective): to be in jail or prison

a.     There are many people incarcerated for non-violent, drug crimes.

7.     to prescribe (verb): recommend and approve the use of a medicine or drug.

a.     Doctors are prescribing more drugs to patients than ever.

8.     to inject (verb): to insert something into one’s body using a needle.

a.     The nurse decided to inject the patient with the medicine directly into the arm.

9.     fabric (noun): the essential foundation of a society.

a.     The fabric of the country is coming apart because of the drug epidemic.

10.  accountability (noun): responsibility for something.

a.     The company took accountability for the mistakes they made.

11.   to sue (noun): take legal actions against someone for something.

a.     Many people are choosing to sue the companies for their damages.

12.  stat (short for “statistic”) (noun): fact or number from a set of data.

a.     The stats for drug addictions show an increase in recent years.

13.  arena (noun): particular area where something happens.

a.     Many people don’t know about this problem outside of the US arena.

14.  subset (noun): smaller group that is part of a larger group of something.

a.     Only a small subset of the group understood the answers.

15.  to overdose (verb): taking too high of a dosage of a drug.

a.     The cases of overdoses have increased in the past few years.

16.  quote—unquote (phrase): used before or after something that is not considered accurate or believable by others.  

a.     The man was killed in a quote—unquote “accident” at the factory.

17.  jurisdiction (noun): official power to make legal decisions.

a.     The police didn’t have jurisdiction in the case.

18.  to shun (verb): to reject or ignore something or someone.

a.     The group decided to shun the girl for things that she said.