Editorial: We need to treat, not punish, heroin addiction

In a turning point in the war against the heroin epidemic, our country has realized that treatment, not punishment, is the best defense against drug addiction.

In a New York Times article on Saturday, writer Katharine Seelye said skyrocketing heroin use among whites — and the increasing number of people overdosing from heroin — is shifting the national dialogue on heroin.  As our country begins to recognize heroin use as an addiction, and not a crime, policies surrounding heroin use adopt a treatment-oriented approach, while diminishing the focus on punishment. These are moves in the right direction. Harsh punishment isn’t going to fix our heroin epidemic.

Despite zero-tolerance policies and stringent prison sentences, deaths from heroin use have quadrupled since 2000, rising to 8,260 deaths nationally in 2013, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Treating heroin users as criminals does not dissuade heroin use — addiction as a mental illness is a stronger factor at play.

Heroin hits all homes, and in 2014, there were 303 overdose deaths in Allegheny County. Of those deaths, 40 percent were from illegal drugs, including heroin and cocaine.

Today’s heroin user could be anyone — your neighbor, your colleague, your friend — undefined by race or income level. According to the CDC, the annual average rate of heroin use from 2011 to 2013 among a white demographic group was three per every 1,000, and 1.7 per every 1,000 among all other demographic groups.

Shaking heads and stiff fingers from the judicial system have not stopped the advancing epidemic — they’ve only served to hide and isolate the signs of addiction. Gradually making this realization, legislators are beginning to introduce policies that take a softer, treatment-oriented approach to addressing the heroin epidemic.

There are 44 states with laws or pilot programs that ease the access that emergency medical workers or friends or family have to naloxone, a medication that reverses the effects of opioid medication. Individuals who call 911 to report an overdose are currently protected from prosecution in 32 states under “good Samaritan laws.” About three dozen police forces around the country are also allowing heroin addicts to walk into a police station and ask for help without fear of arrest.

Harsh policies, such as arresting heroin users for possession, overlook the root causes of heroin addiction — early addiction to prescription painkillers.

According to the CDC, 45 percent of the people who used heroin were also addicted to prescription opioid painkillers. And people who are already addicted to opioid painkillers are 40 times more likely to be addicted to heroin. For the large part, these are people who legally consumed a drug prescribed to them and stumbled into the wrong path.

The stigma and lack of necessary treatment options present a grim likelihood for recovery.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 21.6 million people 12 or older needed treatment for an illicit drug or alcohol use problem, but only 2.3 million received treatment at a specialty substance abuse facility in 2011.

Despite the link between prescription drug use and heroin addiction, few states address the connection between the two addictions. A 2014 survey conducted by the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors found that, of 35 states that reported a strategic plan that explicitly addresses prescription drug abuse, only 12 reported plans that explicitly address heroin use.

Addressing root addictions and building policies focusing on early prevention and treatment is the only way to combat the expanding heroin epidemic. Soft policies will produce hard results, and could help save your neighbor, your colleague or your friend.