Opioid Crisis Episode 3

The third episode of the podcast on the opioid crisis discusses the groups affected by the epidemic. The CDC data shows that opioid deaths have increased in minority populations, particularly among Black and Hispanic populations. Metropolitan areas and suburbs have also seen an increase in overdoses. A study by JANA found that Native American men have the highest rates of overdoses on any drug, while Black men have the highest rates of fentanyl deaths. Age and gender also play a role in addiction rates. Solutions include expanding access to treatment and addressing the various factors that contribute to addiction. It is important to consider the individual, interpersonal, community, and societal factors that impact susceptibility to opioid addiction. Implicit bias in healthcare and limited access to medication treatments are also factors that contribute to disparities in addiction rates. Hi, I'm Riley Mitchell, and this is the third episode of my podcast on the opioid crisis. Today's episode will be talking about the who of this issue, meaning what groups are affected. Some things we will discuss are the consequences of the epidemic on school-aged children, middle-aged population rates, the structural racism that exists in rural, suburban, and cities in America, how it impacts people geographically, solutions to these disparities, and more. As seen by the CDC, opioid deaths have increased in minority populations, specifically Black and Hispanic populations. These groups typically have lower death rates than whites for opioid deaths. This shows a grave increase in opioid addiction in every group of people during this time. Metropolitan areas have also had an increase of overdoses, along with the suburbs, as suburbs were the most prevalent throughout the earlier 2000s. In medium-slash-large-sized greater city areas, whites had the largest increase in overdose deaths, an absolute increase of 8.9, and for synthetic opioids, an increase of 11.4. Drug overdose rates doubled for the Black population in small-to-medium metropolitan areas. Overall, the Black population also saw the largest absolute increase in deaths involving any kind of opioid. Whites had the largest increase of synthetic opioid deaths, with an absolute increase of 7.8. This data from the CDC really highlights the fact that even though some variety happens between groups, such as the difference between overdoses in general and just overdose deaths, or synthetic opioids versus non-synthetic, many groups are being affected. A study by JANA studied some more specific groups that were affected by this, and they found that from March to August of 2021, non-Hispanic Native Americans or Alaska Native men had the highest rates per 100,000 people of overdoses on any drug, as well as meth without fentanyl. This same group, along with women and white men, had the highest rates of death involving meth with fentanyl. During this time period, drug overdoses were at the highest for Black men and Native American men. Specifically, fentanyl deaths were the highest among Black men. For meth, the groups most affected were Native American men as well as white men. Meth without fentanyl was the highest for Native American men. There were disparities based on age, which was found really prevalent as well, and this was seen for Native American men aged 15 to 34, as they were the most affected. But for Black Americans, the most affected age group was 35 to 64. For every group studied, men had the higher rates of overdoses. Some possible solutions for this are expanding access to treatment, both longer term, such as rehab, and short term, like Narcan. As I know, I just threw a lot of stats at you just to give a more quick summary of what JANA's article was saying. It's that Native American men overall have the highest rates of use kind of in every aspect, so such as meth with fentanyl or meth without fentanyl, they pertain as having the highest. And Black men have the highest rates as well in some of those groups. And another key point is that men in all racial groups have higher than women use rates, and that age can definitely play a big role, and the age in which drug use is most prevalent can vary from race to race. When doing my research, the source that I found most helpful for this piece was a study done by BioMed Central. They conducted research on the factors that can impact susceptibility to opioid addiction and found that there are four main tiers. Individual, which includes factors such as genetics and mental health conditions. Interpersonal, which pertains to environment and family. Community, which pertains to geographic region and access to both prescriptions and treatment. And finally, society, which pertains to the social stigmas and prejudice, also known as implicit bias in healthcare. These four tiers were examined, and that being said, it is not useful to do treatment options that only pertain to one element of the opioid crisis, and play into only one small portion to why someone may be addicted to drugs. This is why it's really important to understand the depths and reasons for addiction, because it varies so much from person to person. When reading this BioMed source, I found things that both emphasized what I had found in past articles and added on new things. I first found that risk for opioid misuse in terms of age peaks at age 18 to 25. I also found that women are more likely to receive prescriptions, which is a form of implicit bias. This being said, opioids are well known to have detrimental effects on maternal and neonatal health, yet this still happens. Whites are also more likely to get prescriptions as examined, and people of color are more likely to be under-treated due to implicit bias. At the beginning of this wave of the epidemic, which is the early 2010s, deaths were much higher for whites, but as we see a general uptick, rates are lifting for people of color as well. It is seen that African American communities have less access to medication treatments that can assist with rehabilitation, which ties back to that implicit bias piece that I was speaking about above. It is also researched and proven that the majority of people with opioid use disorders have other mental health disorders, such as mood or anxiety, and are seen to have higher rates of incidence when using. Having a history of a substance use disorder or any addiction is also a very large risk factor for developing an opioid use disorder. In research, it is one of the clearest links seen between an opioid use disorder and a previous condition. Polysubstance use is also extremely prevalent in those who develop opioid use disorders. Biological factors can also definitely play a role into how much risk you have for developing an opioid use disorder. These genetics, if they are passed down to you, can affect the opioid receptors in our brains to be more prone to wanting that high, or wanting that feeling and becoming addicted to it. Family use, not even pertaining to genetics, can affect the likelihood, because those who are around substances or have been exposed from an early age are much more likely to overdose themselves, ten times more likely to be exact. Non-metropolitan areas prescribe opioids more, and this may be due to the fact that more of the older population lives in rural areas, and people who work in jobs such as farming are more susceptible to chronic pain and injury. When examining all of these tiers, as I mentioned earlier in the podcast, it is obvious that many factors can increase susceptibility, but there are some more prominent than others, such as gender, age, and geographic location. It is important to acknowledge that addiction can affect anyone. No one is immune to this, and there is no one specific face to addiction. Even if these statistics seem to point away from some identity that you identify with, it is important to know that if you do use or are using, you still have a very strong likelihood of becoming addicted, even without any of these factors. Thank you all for listening to today's episode. Thank you all for listening to today's episode. And for my final episode of this series, I will dive into some solutions for all the things I have discussed in these past three episodes.