Interested in the opioid crisis? This blog has addressed this tragic calamity facing
the nation in past postings. This
posting can list the titles (and dates) of previous postings that have highlighted
this topic, but can more efficiently draw the reader’s attention to an online
site in which this blogger has listed, in the form of factoids and insights,
useful information concerning this epidemic.
That site’s URL is https://onedrive.live.com/view.aspx?resid=CED163627385DD3C!11635&ithint=file%2cdocx&app=Word&authkey=!AFhwqIF3ZhONVK8 .
That site not only has information
regarding the various types of opioids but also information regarding different
related aspects of its sell and distribution including governmental reactions
to the problem. The individual bits of
information are sourced so the reader can further investigate the information.
This posting aims to add to those
listings and it uses a recurring source the above site uses. That source is Beth Macy’s book, Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that
Addicted America.[1] This more
recent book serves as a good follow up to Sam Quinones’ book, Dreamland: The True Tale of
America’s Opiate Epidemic.[2] Both are “good reads” and they do an
effective job at humanizing this plague on the nation. They also portray how this drug abuse exposes
the lack of a federalist mindset among Americans – a mindset that prevailed
before World War II.
But before sharing the factoids and insights, a
word on why this format is used is helpful.
Earlier in this blog, several postings make the case that a main instructional
strategy this blog supports is an approach it calls historical
dialogue-to-action (HD-to-A).[3] As its title indicates, discourse plays a
central role. Beyond that, the approach
commits a teacher to spend time developing students’ abilities to utilize
logical arguments in that discourse.
In turn, the approach relies on Stephen Toulmin’s
logical model of argumentation.[4] In that model, the function of factoids (called
datum statements) and insights (called warrant statements) play crucial functions
in the formulation of a logical argument.
Interested readers are directed to yet another former posting,
“Toulmin’s Elements of a Logical Argument.”[5]
With that context here is this posting’s list of
factoids and insights – they are identified as examples of each type of
statement.
Factoid: A more recent type of opioid has been found
among the public. That is carfentanil. Macy reports that it was originally developed
as a sedative for elephants. It is one
hundred times stronger than the strong opioid, fentanyl, which, in turn, is 25
to 50 times stronger than heroin.
Factoid: The state of West Virginia – through its
burial-assistance program – was at the time of a cited report running out of
funds dedicated to burying opioid victims.
West Virginia is not alone in this problem; similar reports come from a
variety of states from Florida to California.
Generally, the epidemic moved from rural areas to urban areas. Of special interest is the urban corridor
between Baltimore and New York City.
Factoid: Macy judges the nation’s response to the
epidemic to be very slow and very impotent once it began.
Insight: Unlike the spread of other drug consumption
patterns, the opioid problem started in isolated areas such the Appalachian
area or the Midwestern rust belt region.
This is attributed, at least in part, to the downward trends the local
economies of those areas experienced especially after the introduction of competition
from low income countries from around the world. Not only were the economies of these areas
under stress, but they were already known to be politically powerless areas
that lacked appropriate medical facilities to meet the crisis.
Insight: Also adding a causal effect to an overall lack
of a reaction to the epidemic was the “stigma and shame” one attaches to the
resulting addiction. People and families
affected were highly reluctant to come forward and let their problem be known.
Insight: “Because the most important thing for the
morphine-hijacked brain is, always, not to experience the crushing physical and
psychological pain of withdrawal: to
avoid dopesickness at any cost. [This
leads to] … many users recruit[ing] new customers. … [creating a cycle, which] too
often ends in jail or prison or worse …”[6]
These factoids and insights
will be added to the online site.
[1] Beth Macy, Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that
Addicted America (New York, NY:
Riverhead Books, 2018). In terms of Macy’s book, this posting is not
the first time this blog has cast an eye on it.
For example, the posting, “More Information on Opioid Crisis,” was
posted on July 23, 2019. See Robert Gutierrez, “More Information on Opioid Crisis,”
Gravitas: A Voice for Civics,
July 23, 2013, accessed February 13, 2020, https://gravitascivics.blogspot.com/2019/07/more-information-on-opioid-crisis.html
.
[2] Sam Quinones, Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic
(New York, NY: Bloomsbury Publishing,
2015).
[3] Robert Gutierrez, “Turning to Action – A Model,” Gravitas: A Voice for Civics, March 5, 2019,
accessed February 13, 2020, https://gravitascivics.blogspot.com/2019/03/turning-to-action-model.html .
[5] Robert Gutierrez, “Toulmin’s Elements of a Logical
Argument,” Gravitas: A Voice for
Civics, August 22, 2017, accessed February 13, 2020, https://gravitascivics.blogspot.com/2017/08/toulmins-elements-of-logical-argument.html .
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