Roosevelt @ GWU
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Leadership
    • Semester Overview
    • Get Involved
  • What We Do
    • Advocacy Initiatives >
      • GW UPASS Coalition
      • DC Racial Equity Coalition
      • Economic Justice
      • Bank on DC Retrospective
    • Policy Research >
      • Fireside Chat Discussions
      • Roosevelt Reader Blog
    • Testimonies
  • Blog
  • Publications
    • 10 Ideas Journals
    • Omnibus Journal
    • Roosevelt Reader Blog
  • Contact Us

The roosevelt Reader

The Official Blog of Roosevelt@GWU

What is the Progressive Response to the Opioid Crisis?

12/2/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
By: Sophia Halloran, Emma Kiesling, and Daniel Ohiri

On Friday Nov. 1st the GW Roosevelt Institute held a Fireside chat entitled “Can the Blue Wave Fix the Opioid Crisis?” We were so excited to host Kate Werely, Health Policy Advisor for Representative Mike Doyle (D-PA18); Osa Imadojemu, Deputy Committee Director, Committee on Health at Council of the District of Columbia; and German Lopez, senior Vox correspondent on our campus (
watch it here). Our discussion of policy solutions was wide ranging, covering past, present, and future solutions to the opioid crisis. The focus rested on policies the government can enact to help the healthcare community get treatment to people, as well as policies the healthcare community is enacting itself. The tension between the powerful PHARMA industry, lawmakers, doctors, and nurses is causing unnecessary and preventable deaths. The actors listed as well as the American people know that action needs to be taken especially as the crisis is waning from public attention,  despite families still being torn apart. The following is a list of ways to begin approaching the Opioid Crisis: 


What is the progressive response to the Opioid Crisis?
  • Acknowledge the root cause of drug abuse is not moral depravity but rather a failure of institutional infrastructure both public and private.
  • Begin the policy narrative by treating drug addiction as a medical issue, not a criminal issue.
  • Realize the federal government is currently failing to provide adequate funding for both traditional and alternative drug prevention and rehabilitation apparatuses.
  • Encourage states and localities to use whatever resources they have to engage in prevention and rehabilitation programs.
  • Ensure minority and low income communities are not lost in policymaking process by encouraging states and localities to adopt adopt community action summits where community members share their input directly with elected officials.
  • Recognize that the private healthcare sector must continue to also take steps in curbing their over reliance on prescribing opioids.
0 Comments

    OUR OFFICIAL BLOG

    The Roosevelt Reader is a space where RI@GW members discuss innovative policy solutions to the pressing political issues facing the District, the nation, and the world.

    WRITE FOR US

    Your ideas matter. And we want to help broadcast them to the world. Learn more how to become a blog contributor. 

    CATEGORIES

    All
    Economic Development
    Education
    Energy And Environment
    Equal Justice
    International Affairs
    Public Health
    Rethinking Communities

    RSS Feed

    ARCHIVES

    September 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    October 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Leadership
    • Semester Overview
    • Get Involved
  • What We Do
    • Advocacy Initiatives >
      • GW UPASS Coalition
      • DC Racial Equity Coalition
      • Economic Justice
      • Bank on DC Retrospective
    • Policy Research >
      • Fireside Chat Discussions
      • Roosevelt Reader Blog
    • Testimonies
  • Blog
  • Publications
    • 10 Ideas Journals
    • Omnibus Journal
    • Roosevelt Reader Blog
  • Contact Us