I was disappointed by Gov. John Carney’s and Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long’s recent responses to Delaware’s approach to solving the opioid epidemic in Delaware. I say this as a recovering heroin addict, who — only through luck — was able to survive, even when a family member who I shot heroin with did not and while several other family members still continue to kick and relapse.
Opioid victims want and are seeking help in Delaware. Waiting for “rock bottom” is not the answer when it comes to treating opioid users. Many reach death before “rock bottom.” Only handing out naloxone and promoting a national bill isn’t going to change the fact that a large number of people in our community would rather stick needles in their arms than face life in Delaware.
I am purposeful in the use of the word “victim.” If we continue to refer to opioid sufferers as addicts, we further divide drug users and nonusers. It’s hard for one person to accomplish much in this epidemic, but what we do have control over is language. I know what addiction is. I know what an addict is, but this language dehumanizes those suffering. Opioid victims, as we know, come from various social classes and different backgrounds. With addiction on the rise post-COVID-19, the epidemic is becoming prominent among all.
Dr. David Tam, president and CEO of Beebe Healthcare stated in a recent commentary, “COVID-19 has only made (opioid addiction) worse and increased the number of drug-related deaths seen nationwide and in our own state. Addiction and the stigma associated with it warrant an important discussion in the health care community and with our patients” (“Safe prescribing practices for opioids can save lives,” July 11). Dr. Tam, a new community member of Delaware, recognizes our problem. His solutions aim to relieve the overabundance of prescriptions handed out by the medical community, but this is only a fraction of the problem.
Overprescribing is not the sole reason for our opioid crisis, but addressing it is a step in the right direction. Community members should understand what the opioid crisis looks like for those who do not have access to a doctor, let alone health care. Placing blame on doctors, we are allowing the narrative to cover only those with the privilege of health care and health care services. This does not account for the large number of people who did not come to opioids through a prescription. The opioid epidemic is a cultural problem in Delaware. Looking at the transition from pills to heroin due to overprescribing limits our scope of analysis when helping opioid victims. We need to face the reason why Delawareans use opioids in the first place: It’s either death or a high that will get us through living in Delaware.
It’s easy to see opioid users as “others,” people you can simply ignore on the side of the road, but by clearly stating people as victims of the opioid crisis, we might be able to come together to fix the problem. It’s not just those who suffer from addiction who we’re concerned about. It’s the broken families and tattered bloodlines that are also victims of the epidemic.
Delaware should adopt policies similar to our neighbor to the west. Maryland strategies include block grants supporting prevention, enforcement and treatment, along with town halls that give residents a chance to share how the opioid crisis affects them. Information gathered will help identify gaps in resources and guide funding decisions.
Statistics provided by the Maryland Department of Health in its 2020 annual report, released June 24, 2021, argue that opioid victims are reaching out and we are not saving them: About 70% of individuals who died from overdoses had an interaction with a Maryland hospital in the four years preceding their death and 60% of people who died from an overdose in Maryland had been prescribed a controlled substance at some point during the same five-year period.
Perhaps if the same studies as we see with the Maryland Stop Overdose Strategy were conducted and acted upon across all three counties of Delaware, we could begin this process of reform here at home. With proper communication between Maryland and Delaware, Delmarva can work together at large to eradicate the opioid crisis.
If Delaware and Maryland can work together, so can the nation. We can beat this without politics getting in the way of saving lives. This isn’t a bipartisan issue; this is our issue. And when I say our issue, I mean all of us. We are in this together, and only with one another can we encourage our leaders and recovering opioid victims in Delaware and across state lines to unite this country again by directly working together.
It is Delaware’s choice to directly intervene in the opioid crisis. Is anyone in recovery participating “boots on the ground” (as in actually working for the state) in its approach to the opioid epidemic?
This is my direct call to action: If the state of Delaware wishes to solve the opioid epidemic, it must recruit and work with recovering opioid victims who know how to get out of the drug game and stay clean. Meaning, it is not enough to analyze opioid victims as statistics and subjects, but we need to see them and treat them as equals who have the keys to solving this crisis and recruit them to Lt. Gov. Hall-Long’s First State Overdose Task Force.
We may not have a plan ready yet, but we will because I and other opioid victims are here to help. What worries me is that if we do not create a similar program to the Maryland Stop Overdose Strategy or if Delaware relies only on the federal Non-Opioids Prevent Addiction in the Nation (NOPAIN) Act to be passed without bipartisanship, the opioid crisis won’t stop.
In my experience, opioid victims tend not to use, want or ask for naloxone. They know that when they are playing with heroin, they are summoning death. When I shot heroin, I didn’t want to carry naloxone or even be woken up if and when I may have overdosed. I believe our leaders and recovering opioid victims will make the right decision by directly intervening.
I not only believe Gov. Carney and Lt. Gov. Hall-Long will do the right thing, but I will do everything in my being to be of service to them to save Delaware. Let’s save our community, Delaware. They need us.
Jordan McClements is a fiction writer, a journalist, a composition/literature instructor, a recovering heroin addict, a graduate of Delaware State University and the University of Louisiana-Lafayette and a Master of Fine Arts student at Columbia College Chicago. He resides in Felton.
