The White House observed International Overdose Awareness Day on August 28, 2024 and hosted families who have lost a loved one to overdose, as well as advocates trying to prevent such tragedies. Dr. Rahul Gupta, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, spoke with the Amsterdam News for a Q&A about the efforts the White House has taken to combat the overdose epidemic.
AmNews: Please tell our readers about the current state of the overdose epidemic in this country and ways we can support individuals struggling with addiction?
When President Biden and Vice President Harris took office in January 2021,
the number of overdose deaths were increasing by 31% year after year. Earlier this year, Health and Human Services announced that overdose deaths decreased for the first time in the last five years. The latest data tells us that we have a 7.5% reduction in overdose deaths in the last 12 months ending in March 2024, so this is the largest decrease on record. The shift of the pendulum has been significant. If we do the math, that’s about a life being saved every hour around the clock and at the same time we know what works. What policies have helped make this turnaround happen and this is why it’s important to talk about it. First of all we’ve made Naloxone available over the counter. Over 600,000 lives have been saved because of that. We have made it easier to reach vulnerable communities, marginalized communities and underserved communities. We’ve also made treatment available through Medicaid expansion. All of these things have been important while focusing on harm reduction and then making recovery possible along with prevention efforts.
AmNews: August 31 is International Overdose Awareness Day. Could you talk to us
about why initiatives such as this are so important?
We [recognized International Overdose Awareness Day on August 28, 2024] at the White House because we wanted to have families come from across the country and we had panels, we had so many families in the audience listening to families of lost loved ones. It was heartwarming, but at the same time you hear the stories of the stigma that played a role in the passing away of loved ones. You really try to learn from what is working. Where we need to make sure we put more effort is so critical. It’s a public health issue because you’re also getting to the root of some of why people end up going down this road and so that’s vitally important for people to hear.
AmNews: Is there anything else you want to tell Amsterdam News readers, especially around how Black and Brown communities suffer from some of these issues?
The Biden/Harris agenda continues to be focused on providing more resources to communities including Black and Brown communities. We’ve expanded treatment, made life-saving medications accessible while making sure that we look at saving lives as the North Star. For far too long we’ve locked people up and it has not worked and one of the things that we’re trying to do is make sure that people get the help they need when they’re suffering from mental health [problems] or addiction crisis as opposed to the alternative which hasn’t worked. This is very important because we have programs across the country. We have all kinds of programs, the whole idea is let’s take a compassionate approach where we are taking a treatment first approach, a harm reduction approach, while at the same time making sure that those who are producing and trafficking drugs and up to no good preying on people are being held accountable.
If you know someone is struggling with addiction you can contact Opioid Overdose Prevention Programs (OOPPs) to obtain free Naloxone (Narcan). You can also go to this site for more information on free programs: https://nyc988.cityofnewyork.us/en/naloxone/. The New York State Office of Addition and Support also has information and resources: https://oasas.ny.gov.
