MAT and STOP Fentanyl acts will save lives
PORTSMOUTH, OHIO — Fentanyl. It’s the highly potent synthetic opioid driving a massive surge in overdose deaths. Sen. Rob Portman, I think you know this is a crisis we must face right now. But the reasons for this crisis, and what we can do about it, are not what you think.
I should know. I’ve lost friends to overdose, and nearly died myself. I am an Iraq War veteran and a resident of Portsmouth in the Ohio River Valley. When I returned home from the war, I was eager to jump back into life as a father and reconnect to my community. Unfortunately, though I left the war, the war did not leave me.
With undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder making every moment of my life a battle, I turned to opioids to make the days more bearable. And they were, for a bit. Pretty soon, though, the once-in-awhile OxyContin morphed into a full-blown dependency on opioids.
Yet as debilitating as my addiction was, my situation was made exponentially worse by the criminalization of drug users that our society has pursued for over 50 years, especially targeting poor people and communities of color. I was arrested time and again and sent to jail, but police and judges couldn’t reduce my dependence on opioids -because I was dealing with a health issue.
It was only thanks to the compassion and nonjudgmental support from a few key people around me that I began to better understand what was happening to me, and overcome my dependency. I was able to get the support that has brought me to the place I am today: happy, healthy, and giving back to my community. That’s what people who use drugs need, and what saves lives: harm reduction; support; and treatment in the communities where they live. This means access to sterile syringes and drug testing kits, and forms of medically assisted treatment (MAT) like buprenorphine so people can move toward recovery. And for all of us, it means learning to administer naloxone, which can reverse an overdose in seconds and save a life.
These are the solutions I advocate for every day in Ohio in my work as a harm reduction provider at River Valley Organizing, part of the People’s Action national network.
They are also the solutions in two bills currently before Congress: The Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment (MAT) Act and STOP Fentanyl Act. Despite having wide bipartisan support, these bills have stalled in Congress, preventing communities from having the tools they need to stop overdoses and save lives.
What doesn’t save lives? Sending people who use drugs to prison. For lawmakers, this is the easy way out -- they tell voters they’re “tough on crime,” and hope they won’t notice that criminalization has failed for decades to stop deaths from drug use.
That’s why, Sen. Portman, you need to abandon your call for the permanent classwide scheduling of fentanyl and related substances, and get behind the legislation and solutions that center on public health approaches instead. All that drug-scheduling does is send more people who use drugs to jail rather than offer them harm reduction and treatment.
Sen. Portman, we need you to work to pass the MAT Act and STOP Fentanyl Act, so lives can be saved, and so that those who struggle with drugs can find what they need to heal. To do this will take compassion and courage to create a world where people have access to lifesaving care and where everyone can thrive.
That’s what people who use drugs need, and what saves lives: harm reduction; support; and treatment in the communities where they live. This means access to sterile syringes and drug testing kits, and forms of medically assisted treatment (MAT) like buprenorphine so people can move toward recovery. And for all of us, it means learning to administer naloxone, which can reverse an overdose in seconds and save a life.