Center City, Minn. (Oct. 26, 2017)—The Hazelden Betty Ford Institute for Recovery Advocacy called today's declaration of a public health emergency to address the opioid epidemic "an important step to spur needed action in the fight to end the worst drug crisis in the nation's history."
"The President's action today is a needed step, and we are hopeful that additional actions will spring from it to bring critical help to the many Americans who need it," said Nick Motu, vice president of the Hazelden Betty Ford Institute for Recovery Advocacy, part of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. "The opioid crisis continues to devastate lives, families and communities throughout America, and aggressive action is long overdue."
"This has been an emergency for many years so we welcome the official acknowledgement of that fact and hope that it's a step toward marshaling massive attention and resources to fight this problem on all fronts," continued Motu, who noted that substance use disorders affect nearly a third of U.S. families, and more people die from drug overdose than from car crashes. "Since 1999, we've lost more people to drug overdose than currently live in the city of Portland. It's a mind-boggling crisis that demands a full-throated and long-term commitment."
"Many important next steps remain, including a commitment to renew the declaration every 90 days for as long as needed, appointments of key officials involved in the federal response, significantly increased funding, and a broadening of the scope to address not just opioids but the underlying problem of addiction to all substances," Motu said.
As a national leader, the Hazelden Betty Ford Institute for Recovery Advocacy has long been pushing a comprehensive series of policy priorities on opioids, supporting last year's passage of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act and the 21st Century Cures Act, while also emphasizing the need to protect addiction and mental illness treatment coverage in any health care reform.
"As Congress wraps up its work this year, another substantial investment in one of America's most pressing issues would be a notable achievement," Motu said. "We also need our policymakers to see the long-term need to address addiction more broadly. One day, when the opioid crisis is behind us, I hope we have not simply moved on to the next drug crisis and instead have decided once and for all to address addiction as the longstanding public health problem that it is. Addiction represents one of the most prevalent and devastating health and social problems in our country. We cannot afford for it to be marginalized within our health care system now—amid the tragedy of our opioid overdose epidemic—or later."
About the Hazelden Betty Ford Institute for Recovery Advocacy
Our mission is to provide a leading national voice on all issues related to addiction prevention, treatment and recovery and to facilitate conversation among those in recovery, those still suffering and society at large. We are committed to smashing stigma, shaping public policy and educating people everywhere about the problems of addiction and the promise of recovery. The Hazelden Betty Ford Institute for Recovery Advocacy is part of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, the nation's largest nonprofit treatment provider. With a legacy that began in 1949 and includes the 1982 founding of the Betty Ford Center, the Foundation has 17 sites in California, Minnesota, Oregon, Illinois, New York, Florida, Massachusetts, Colorado and Texas. Learn more at www.HBFinstitute.org and on Twitter @hbfadvocacy.