Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

elleng

(136,083 posts)
Sun Dec 27, 2015, 12:57 PM Dec 2015

O'Malley discusses ways to fight opiate crisis.

Last edited Sun Dec 27, 2015, 03:44 PM - Edit history (1)

Candidate calls for 'continuum of care'

'O’Malley discussed what he would do as president to help states address the opiate abuse epidemic. He has put forth a plan for combating opiate addiction he says would cut by 25 percent the number of U.S. overdose deaths within five years.

“A first step would be to stop the overprescribing of these very potent pain medications,” he said, adding, “the FDA made a big mistake in greenlighting the prescribing of these very addictive medications.”

O’Malley said he would push for a federal investment of $12 billion to help states provide the “continuum of care” that many are lacking to keep people on a safe path after detox or hospitalization and prevent relapses. He also would create a national strategy on fentanyl – the synthetic opioid much more powerful than heroin and has claimed more lives than heroin this year – within 100 days of taking office, he said.

Pointing to his record as mayor in Baltimore, where he expanded drug treatment availability by 20 percent, O’Malley said, “I promised not only to improve policing, but to improve treatment and I’ll be damned some of these government programs don’t actually work … We saved a lot of lives.”

“We struggled a lot, frankly,” he added. “We switched our goal to reducing overdose deaths.”

O’Malley said the most important indicator of whether a person is at risk for overdosing is if they have presented themselves at an emergency room with a “near-miss” once. That point, O’Malley said, is where intervention needs to happen.

The federal government will need to help states build a continuum of care to provide addicts with a safe place for a short-term detox, and readily available 28-day residential programs, he said. He stressed the importance of recovery communities, like one recently proposed for downtown Portsmouth, and said he realizes the difficulties such centers can face with neighboring residents and zoning regulations.

“What works best is to get them paired up with a church or someone respected in the community … You have to pair those with your nonprofits that are there with representatives in the community so neighbors know who they can go to when there are problems,” he said.'>>>

http://www.seacoastonline.com/article/20151227/NEWS/151229428

Look for part two of this interview focusing on foreign policy in Tuesday’s Exeter News-Letter, the Portsmouth Herald and on Seacoastonline.com.

3 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
O'Malley discusses ways to fight opiate crisis. (Original Post) elleng Dec 2015 OP
Well, he just lost me Warpy Dec 2015 #1
All you are doing is proving you don't know squat about O'Malley. FSogol Dec 2015 #2
Stats on overdose deaths: FSogol Dec 2015 #3

Warpy

(113,130 posts)
1. Well, he just lost me
Sun Dec 27, 2015, 03:07 PM
Dec 2015

If he really gives a shit about preventing things like overdoses, he needs to work toward ending the drug war,. period. Most people overdose because they get a hot shot, something that wouldn't happen with regulated drugs at known potency.

As for the people who have had accidental near misses with prescription drugs, send them home with Narcan in case it happens again. O'Malley sounds like he wants to put them through rehab and leave them in pain, not an option since untreated pain is fatal.

In any case, he's chasing a gnat with a Howitzer. Yes, some people overdose on drugs every year. Is it as crisis? Hardly. If he really cares about preventable deaths, he needs to focus on all the fucking guns out there and how to get them out of the hands of swaggering morons with hair trigger tempers--including the ones in uniforms.

FSogol

(46,525 posts)
2. All you are doing is proving you don't know squat about O'Malley.
Mon Dec 28, 2015, 08:54 AM
Dec 2015

As Governor of Maryland and Mayor of Baltimore, he decriminalized Marijuana, doubled the dollars going towards drug treatment, switched to community policing, and created a civilian review board over the police. If Baltimore backslid, it cannot be blamed on O'Malley. Also, he did focus on Guns, he was one of the few governors that took on the NRA and won. Maryland passed restrictions on guns, the toughest in the region.

All of this vitriol over a desire to save people from overdoses?

Here's O'Malley plan on addition treatment. Try reading it.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1281&pid=3601

Latest Discussions»Retired Forums»Martin O'Malley»O'Malley discusses ways t...