During recovery, individuals benefit from having access to professional specialists as well as strong and positive support groups.Īs North Carolina continues to experiment with different treatment options for OUD (Opioid Use Disorder), usage of Buprenorphine, Naloxone and other FDA-approved medications are being studied to determine their effectiveness in reducing substance abuse. The availability of affordable and effective medical resources and providing patients with adequate treatment programs to help them succeed in their recovery are major facets of North Carolina’s action plan. Many programs and treatments have been redeveloped with the aim of better assisting users and those directly impacted.Īs the opioid crisis worsens, it is vital to focus on not only opioid abuse but on other poly-substance abuse. They expand on the 2019 plan by including a “broadened focus on polysubstance use as well as centering equity and lived experiences”, prioritizing reduction of harm, prevention, better connections to treatment and access to housing and reorienting systems that disproportionately harm marginalized people. North Carolina’s Opioid and Substance Use Action Plan (NC OSUAP), developed in May 2021, details the objectives community partners and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services have in mind for combating opioid abuse. Taking Action on the Opioid Crisis in North Carolina 3 These worsening trends highlight the necessity to support these marginalized populations with systemic and community-based projects. Incarcerated people, those without health insurance and those living in poverty are also at a greater risk of a fatal opioid overdose. The data shows that overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids excluding methadone have increased 50-fold, up to 35,000 in 2019.Īdditionally, data from 2019 shows that non-Hispanic American Indians and Alaskan Natives had a higher drug overdose rate than any other racial or ethnic group. 2 This graph shows the total number of drug overdoses in the United States from 1999 to 2019. Pharmaceutical companies were targeted in the lawsuit due to the suspicion that they assured healthcare providers that “patients would not become addicted to opioid pain relievers.” 1 The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) declared a public emergency in 2017, though the warning did little to slow the crisis – the age-adjusted rate of drug overdose deaths increased 31% from 2019 to 2020. The United States opioid crisis is thought to have begun in the late 1990s and has been exacerbated since due to heightened prescriptions. Addressing a Crisis Decades in the Making However, some of the funding is allocated for statewide programs, such as research projects. The vast majority of North Carolina’s funds from the settlement will go directly into communities and be managed by local governments. As part of that settlement agreement, the state of North Carolina and local governments across the state are set to receive $757 million over the next 18 years to address the opioid crisis. In July 2021, a historic $26 billion agreement was reached between states and several large drug distributors and opioid manufacturers.
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