SC must deal with Opioid Epidemic

On average, 115 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It is becoming an epidemic. State Senator Thomas Alexander of Oconee County says work is being done in Columbia to try to end the opioid crisis. “It is a tragic situation that so many people are getting addicted to opioids and we have put fourth seven different pieces of legislation to try to address that. One is we are limiting the number of days that opioids can be prescribed for initial treatment of certain conditions to seven days. It will be a little bit of burden for folks that might need additional help with pain from that standpoint, but we had to at least try to clamp down on that aspect of it. Also, those that have an opioid addiction, we are putting into place certain treatment counselors trained in that specific area of opioid addiction counseling to help people get off opioids and get back to being productive citizens. It is a national epidemic and we are working with law enforcement to address as they see things that we can do to support their efforts. I can’t say enough about law enforcement and the good work that they do, not only in this arena, but the safety and well being of citizens. We are working hand in hand with them and the medical community. The Governor has put together a task force from that standpoint. We will be having a summit coming up because this is not something that we can just pass legislation on and then go on, we are going to have to continue to monitor and see what we can do to prevent it from getting worse and then to turn the tide from that standpoint. It is certainly another high priority for us in the state of South Carolina.” From 1999 to 2016, more than 630,000 people have died from a drug overdose in the United States, says the CDC. Around 66% of the more than 63,600 drug overdose deaths in 2016 involved an opioid. In 2016, the number of overdose deaths involving opioids was five times higher than in 1999.