As a family doctor, I prescribe opioids judiciously. My training taught me to be careful with each and every pill I prescribe, as each script could add another victim to the opioid crisis at the forefront of our country’s current health agenda. However, despite those efforts ― and the efforts of so many others in my profession ― the number of annual opioid overdoses has risen in most states, according to data the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released this month[1].
As this situation worsens, I often think about the impact the opioid epidemic has had on black Americans ― a community that has previously faced disparities and mistreatment when it comes to addiction and drug abuse.[2]
Just a few months ago, I listened to our current surgeon general, Jerome Adams, at the Congressional Black Caucus conference in Washington, D.C. He discussed our country’s history with addiction and the need for more evidence-based medical treatments to combat the issue. Adams also expressed his concern regarding the opioid epidemic and acknowledged that our nation’s history of drug addiction has led to some medical disparities.[3]
Adams then brought up the time he was asked about the ongoing opioid epidemic during a radio interview. A listener, likely referring to the well-documented dynamics between drug abuse and race[4], asked why everyone had only started paying attention to drug addiction now that white people were being affected.
The surgeon general’s answer was to take the attention and funds allocated to combating the opioid epidemic and use them to make more addiction treatment programs available to all ― including those in the black community. He suggested the radio listener not worry about what happened in the past and instead worry about what we’re