Description

In 2017, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) declared a public health emergency concerning the opioid crisis in the United States. In 2016, the department reported that 116 individuals died every day from opioid-related overdoses, resulting in more than 42,000 deaths that year (DHHS, 2018). Presently, the DHHS refers to this crisis as an epidemic. The government, public health providers, scientists, and clinicians appear to be at a loss for answers to combat the epidemic as they explore the addicted brain, medication-assisted treatments, and community intervention programs such as needle exchanges and injection sites.These interventions are highly controversial in some parts of the United States, due to the societal stigma surrounding addiction (National Institute on Drug Abuse NIDA], 2019).