Floyd and the opioid crisis

Courteney Ross, girlfriend to George Floyd, spoke through tears as she sat surrounded by a plexiglass divider in a courtroom on April 1 during former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin’s murder trial. She spoke of their relationship and shared struggle with opioids.

“Our story, it’s a classic story of how many people get addicted to opioids,” she testified.

“We both suffered from chronic pain. Mine was in my neck and his was in his back.” Ross is right. One common pathway to addiction begins when people are prescribed opioids to alleviate chronic pain.

Hearing Ross testify brought back for me all-too-vivid memories of watching someone I was close to struggle with chronic back pain. The Vicodin he was prescribed in response quickly led to misuse of the drug and ultimately to an addiction that tore his family apart. His struggle was scary at points and devastatingly sad at others.

Addiction is a lifelong disease filled with triumphs, setbacks and hard work that requires support and care, from both the individual’s support system and community programs set up with government support. Despite what we know about addiction to opioids and other drugs, the necessary support is often lacking. The harm from this disconnect is enormous. In 2019, more than 70% of the nation’s 70,000 overdose deaths involved opioids, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s nearly 50,000 people.

The economic cost of opioid addiction has been estimated at $78.5 billion per year.

Yet stigma and misinformation continue to impede the implementation of policy and support for individuals struggling with opioids.