Andrew Yang Policy on OPIOID CRISIS

[Sherman A1]

Approximately 115 AMERICANS die each day from an opioid overdose. Many more struggle through addiction, including all the negative health and behavioral impacts that it entails. Nearly 220 MILLION prescriptions for opioids were written in 2016, despite the risks of these drugs being well known, and over 2.6 MILLION are addicted to opiates.

Outside of the immediate health effects, drug trafficking and related crimes have sprung up in communities throughout America in order to cater to these addictions. And our country’s healthcare system, complicit in the creation of the crisis, hasn’t found a way to treat the outbreak.

The opioid crisis isn’t just a nationwide public health emergency – it’s a NATIONAL CRISIS. Tens of thousands of people are dying each year, with millions more suffering from an addiction. Many of these people’s addictions started when they were prescribed these medications by a doctor. The human suffering caused by this crisis cannot be measured, and the economic damage is untold.

We must do more than declare this a crisis and hope the issue solves itself.

https://www.yang2020.com/policies/opioid-crisis/

[Pachamama]

1. I just donated to his campaign....

I think he has some great ideas and I want to see his message get out there and be part of the debates...

[Sherman A1]

2. I agree that he has some superb ideas

and hope that he gets better coverage of them. I am sure they appreciate any and all support.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

3. I disagree with some of his specific solution ideas.

All states should limit the size of prescriptions and require all opioid prescriptions to be made from hospitals instead of individual offices/practices. Right now our prescription rate is 4 times higher than in Europe – we need to bring it down. Doctors need to tell more patients that they’ll feel better on their own without having to take opiates.

While there are definitely pill-happy doctors, I believe it would make more sense to take the pressure off people to get back to work ASAP. People don't want to become junkies, and they also don't want to lose their jobs. If they go back to work too quickly, they tend to rely on their medication past when they really need to. It's systemic problem, not an individual problem.

Insurance companies should provide more oversight of prescriptions to curb abuse and report these measures to the Dept. of Health and Human Services.

I am very much not interested in having an insurance company get between me and my doctor.

Allow local law enforcement authorities to selectively enforce criminal laws related to use and possession of opiates to facilitate treatment.

Also not a fan of "selective" criminal law enforcement.

However, if by this:

Destigmatize medication-based treatment options for opiate addiction. We need to do whatever works best, including drugs that enable addicts to recover in stages.

he means actual step-down weaning using heroin in clinics, I'm for it.

[appalachiablue]

4. Yang has good ideas, glad to see him in this race. K & R