Treatment, rehabilitation needed to combat New Mexico’s opioid addiction crisis
Addiction to prescription opioid pain relievers and heroin is a growing public health epidemic that’s taking a heartbreaking toll on families and communities across the country. For years, without adequate treatment resources, communities in New Mexico have suffered through some of the highest rates of opioid and heroin addiction and overdose deaths in the nation.
I voted for the bipartisan “21st Century Cures Act,” which the president signed into law this month. The act included critically needed new federal resources for states like New Mexico. The new law sets aside $1 billion for competitive grants to combat the opioid crisis through effective treatment resources and enforcement programs. I worked to ensure that these grants will give preference to states like New Mexico that are experiencing the highest prevalence of addiction.
I attended a training last week on treating an overdose in an emergency situation, including the use of Narcan, a lifesaving drug that can reverse the deadly effects of opioid overdose. Afterward, at the Endorphin Power Co., a transitional housing facility for people experiencing homelessness as the result of substance abuse, I heard from first responders, medical professionals, law enforcement and family members across New Mexico about how important these resources are to help save lives.
Addiction is a disease that can happen to anyone. Last month, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued a landmark report, “Facing Addiction in America,” which called on policymakers and doctors to look at substance use disorders as a disease rather than as personal vices or moral failings. When we treat addiction as a disease, we can start thinking about the real steps needed to address the opioid epidemic with urgent investments in prevention and treatment.
Earlier this year, I toured treatment centers and hosted a roundtable in Rio Arriba County with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Regional Director Marjorie Petty, local stakeholders and constituents who have battled opioid addiction.
At that roundtable I met Josh who is a peer-to-peer support worker at Inside Out Recovery Center in Española. Josh was born and raised in Española, where he experienced drug and alcohol use as a way of life — passed down from generation to generation. When he was 14 years old, a high school friend with a prescription for hydrocodone offered him some pills. Josh quickly became addicted. Over time, his opioid addiction led him to the point where he was using large doses of heroin every day, stealing from family and friends to pay for his addiction. He told me about a suicide attempt that failed when his gun didn’t go off. At one point, while going through withdrawal in a jail cell, Josh was unable to eat for weeks and lost over a third of his bodyweight.
In his late 20s, after going through these intense struggles, Josh was introduced to the Inside Out Recovery Center. At Inside Out, Josh received peer support and learned conflict resolution and coping skills. He credits the program with saving his life. Now that Josh has his life back, he is working to help others in his community get their lives back.
Particularly in New Mexico’s rural and tribal communities, there is a severe lack of access to proven treatment and rehabilitation resources like Inside Out. We desperately need more detoxification centers, more transitional housing facilities, more outpatient services, effective enforcement programs, and more behavioral health resources. The Cures Act is a great step forward in devoting real resources to evidence-based treatment and enforcement programs to combat the opioid addiction epidemic and allow people to get on the road to recovery.
When provided with an opportunity to receive comprehensive treatment and rehabilitation, people who have suffered through the trials of opioid addiction can turn their lives around and help their communities heal in the process.
