Opioid Epidemic Analysis

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The New York Times Op-Ed Article ‘Congress Wakes up to the Opioid Epidemic’ highlights the dangerous effects of opioid addiction in the U.S., and how Congress should make changes to help end the epidemic. The article describes the vast number of Americans that are addicted to prescription and illicit opioids, making opioid overdose a common cause of death. Since 2000, the death rate of opioid caused deaths has tripled, and continues to increase. Congress has addressed this issue quite late, and the article suggests ways for the government to act on the epidemic. Some ideas mentioned were investing more money in treatment programs, training physicians to monitor prescription opioid use more carefully, and making Buprenorphine, a weaker opioid

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