US sobering up about opioid addiction issue

Slowly but surely, like the proverbial aircraft carrier, the U.S. government is changing to a new and better course on the long-neglected issue of opioid abuse and addiction. On March 15, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention took an emphatic stand against the loose prescribing norms that have fueled the growth of opioid consumption for non-cancer pain, with the terrible result that 16,000 people a year die from overdoses.

Labeling the drugs “dangerous,” and noting that evidence did not support their long-term efficacy for most cases of chronic pain, CDC Director Thomas Frieden urged physicians to follow more-cautious new CDC guidelines that emphasize alternative pain management techniques.

The CDC announcement followed the Senate’s passage of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016 by a vote of 94 to 1. Whereas the White House this year called for more than $1 billion, over two years, in new mandatory funding for drug treatment, this bill includes no new funding beyond a previously allocated $400 million. Still, the legislation, co-sponsored by Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., is a step in the right direction.

First, it was bipartisan, and overwhelmingly so, suggesting that lawmakers can still work across the aisle on issues, such as public health, that should never be partisan. Second, the bill addresses addiction to heroin and prescription opioids as a public-health issue rather than a law enforcement matter, a sea change in federal policy.

Third, like the CDC guidelines, the bill attacks the supply side of the problem. It provides for $25 million in grants over five years to states that mandate provider participation in their computerized Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs.

The House should take it up and pass it, soon.

This story was originally published March 22, 2016 at 5:01 PM with the headline "US sobering up about opioid addiction issue."