Public health measures drive down opioid deaths
U.S. opioid deaths are finally going down. In January, a CDC report showed an almost 24% decrease in drug overdose deaths from September 2023 to September 2024. This was a drop from 114,000 deaths to 87,000. That’s 27,000 fewer deaths.
Demonizing immigrants and militarization of the border had nothing to do with it. Tax cuts for billionaires didn’t do it. Improved public health measures are what saved lives, even as systemic factors driving addiction continued to deepen: low wages, lack of opportunity for youth, unaffordable housing, capitalist-driven alienation, and despair.
The CDC report states:
“Multiple factors contribute to the drop in overdose deaths, including widespread, data-driven distribution of naloxone, which is a life-saving medication that can reverse an overdose; better access to evidence-based treatment for substance use disorders; shifts in the illegal drug supply; a resumption of prevention and response after pandemic-related disruptions; and continued investments in prevention and response programs like CDC’s flagship Overdose Data to Action (OD2A) program.”
Trump and Musk’s cuts threaten all this progress. Trump talks a big game about stopping the opioid epidemic. But if he were serious – if he actually cared about saving lives – he would be pushing to expand public health institutions and advocate health care for all. Trump has never helped the communities devastated by the opioid epidemic and never will.
To shed light on the real lives of people struggling with opioid addiction, Struggle – La Lucha is beginning a series on the epidemic. First is an interview with Kaitlin R., a 29-year-old south Louisiana woman currently enrolled in methadone therapy.
Working-class mom opens up about opioid addiction
Kaitlin R.: I’ve been on 120 mg for 4 years now, but I just recently, within the last month, have begun to taper down. I’m at 118 mg and will go down by 2 mg every two weeks.
It honestly saved me. It truly has saved me. It has its side effects, but honestly, I’ll take craving sugar over craving dope any day.
Gregory E. Williams: Do you receive treatment through Medicaid?
KR: Yes, fully paid for by Medicaid. If you have to pay out of pocket, it’s 90 bucks a week. I know that seems like a lot, but it’s nothing compared to what you spend on dope to not be sick. Some people have a habit of at least $120 a day.
GEW: It sounds like Medicaid is a lifeline. Medicaid expansion probably saved a lot of lives, in terms of addiction treatment alone. Governor Landry tried to get thousands of Louisiana residents kicked off Medicaid when he was Attorney General. Now, Trump and Musk are working at the federal level to gut it. What do you think would happen if they go through with that?
KR: Oh man, if they go through with that, the addicts will be forced to go back to street drugs. Especially if they have to cold turkey methadone. That is literally harder and more painful to come off of than fentanyl.
GEW: That would be horrible. It would not only be cruel, but would reverse so much of the progress made. Overdose deaths are finally going down, and it’s because of public health measures like methadone programs. Do you have any experience with Narcan?
KR: I have never been given Narcan. Thankfully, I’ve never overdosed, but I have had to administer some.
GEW: You have a young child with special needs, right? Can I ask about the importance of having support for recovery when it comes to parenting and employment?
KR: I think it’s very important for parents – single parents especially – to have support during recovery. In my case, especially, if I didn’t get clean, my son Nicky would have nobody. His dad damn sure wasn’t gonna get clean for Nicky.
While methadone is very helpful, there is still a stigma surrounding it. Some employers will not even give you a second look if they find out you’re on methadone.
GEW: Considering that stigma, is there anything you wish people knew about opioid addiction?
KR: Yeah, I wish people knew that, yes, in the beginning of the addiction, it was a choice. But it very quickly can become no longer a choice. You need it to not be sick. Hell, you need it to be normal. It’s the only thing you can think about if you withdraw. It very quickly stops being fun and starts being absolute hell on earth. You get stuck in a constant cycle of being sick, getting money, getting well, to then need more money to do it all over again. I wish people would realize that no addict wakes up every day wanting to be an addict. Nobody wants to be an addict, I promise.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve told myself I’m gonna get clean, just to wake up the next morning being sick and just wanting to die. Literally wanting to stay away from this drug but then being so sick you have to do it, then you hate yourself even more because you failed again. And it just happens over and over.
At least until the addict is ready to get clean, and it took me a long time to realize that, just because I need help getting clean doesn’t take away from the fact that I am clean, on methadone or suboxone or completely abstinent. I am clean.
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